Always told by senior techs to make my own judgment while dealing with patient

[pharmchick21]

This is related to my retail pharm tech job..

I have recently started working as tech for few months now. I only work 1 day a week. So far so good.

Recently i encountered this patient coming in and asking for his meds. I looked up his profile and saw most of his prescription having some sort of insurance issues. Most of them about trying to get hold off doctor/ or too soon refill. He kept insisting that he has something ready and he got call. so i asked senior tech about it. She knew him so she told him it wasnt ready and some how made him leave.

Then she told me that there was some note on his profile. And yes i read that note too. But it didnt say anything specific on his situation. It just said that some lady( name) found his meds. Now i don't know some lady picks up his meds. And how can i judge patient??? how can i know if he actually is there to pick up or just hanging out there. I was told later that i just have make my own judgments.


I worked as pharmacy cashier few years ago then switch careers and now back to pharmacy. I dont mind challenges that come on my way when i am there. But i feel like i am only there once a week, don't have much chance to learn new things unless i am put into those situations. And everytime i am there and there is something i don't know , i feel like techs/ pharmacist gets annoyed with my question. They are over all nice but i don't know they don't understand my situation. I picked up most of sigs but there is always that one drug that i don't know sig for and i have to ask them.

this is how retail pharmacy work environment is ??? I feel like my pharmacy manager hates me once she realized how many questions i asked her on my first day at work. She never schedule me with her, always ask about me to other pharmacist and techs ( i heard). I think i am putting more than what i have to learn everything. Do i get used to such behavior????

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[BidingMyTime]

Well, if you aren't doing this already, but a notebook and write down all the answers to your questions. You should never ask the same question more than once, and if you have been, that is probably a big problem. Then when the question comes up again, and you don't remember the answer (as would be very common), then you look up the answer in your notebook instead of bothering one of your co-workers.

Also, both retail and hospital both tend to give very little structured training, it is often an observe for a day or 2 then sink or swim. So "to swim", you need to be writing down everything, because there is too much to remember on your first pass through.

As for the specific situation you mentioned, I'm not sure I really understood what is happening. No patient should just be "hanging out", but it can happen if the patient has Alzheimer's or something. Judging people is something that just takes a lot of experience. But generally if you've repeated something to the customer twice, and they still aren't getting it, then it would be appropriate to let the supervising pharmacist know of the situation. IE, you explained to the customer twice that none of his medicines are ready because of insurance issues, and the customer is still asking the same question or not understanding, then get the pharmacist. These types of situations are going to be extremely rare...now you do NOT want to write any specific patient information in your notebook, but you just need to remember in your own mind this customer, and if a caretaker is responsible for his medicines, instead of him.

 

[pharmchick21]

Well, if you aren't doing this already, but a notebook and write down all the answers to your questions. You should never ask the same question more than once, and if you have been, that is probably a big problem. Then when the question comes up again, and you don't remember the answer (as would be very common), then you look up the answer in your notebook instead of bothering one of your co-workers.

Also, both retail and hospital both tend to give very little structured training, it is often an observe for a day or 2 then sink or swim. So "to swim", you need to be writing down everything, because there is too much to remember on your first pass through.

As for the specific situation you mentioned, I'm not sure I really understood what is happening. No patient should just be "hanging out", but it can happen if the patient has Alzheimer's or something. Judging people is something that just takes a lot of experience. But generally if you've repeated something to the customer twice, and they still aren't getting it, then it would be appropriate to let the supervising pharmacist know of the situation. IE, you explained to the customer twice that none of his medicines are ready because of insurance issues, and the customer is still asking the same question or not understanding, then get the pharmacist. These types of situations are going to be extremely rare...now you do NOT want to write any specific patient information in your notebook, but you just need to remember in your own mind this customer, and if a caretaker is responsible for his medicines, instead of him.

Hey, thank you for your response. I don't ask same question over and over. And every time i am put in such situation, i learned about it right there and remember it. I don't have habit of writing but i should start doing it. As i said earlier i have picked up things pretty quickly even though i am there once a week, some weeks never. It's just matter of new issues coming on my way when i am there like insurance issues then i have never seen, some meds sigs and then people calling me asking me for meds without their names (blood pressure meds etc).

About that specific scenario, i was told that this patient always shows up at pharmacy looking for his meds. And there is someone who takes care of his medication. Now there wasn't any clear note about it on his profile besides some one wrote that" (person name ) found his meds." How would i know that someone else picks up his meds and he has some medical condition. I see people like him all time who are actually there for their meds. How would i remember patients if i am there just once a week for 4 hours. Whenever i am there i try to do data entry, dispensing and take calls all together, i don't mind if other tech and pharmacist stays on phone because i actually want to make career out of this. But situation likes above stresses me out, makes me feel like dumb person. Hopefully it changes.

 

[opinionfree]

2 Things: You have a bully trying to strong arm success and simple biology at work here. You are younger, I bet prettier, work 1 day a week and are trying to adapt to the little fiefdom (she) the pharmacist has created. You'll be long gone before this pharmacy manager hag (if) ever has her epiphany. Also, a thicker covering of the ol' epidermis will help.

 

[BidingMyTime]

About that specific scenario, i was told that this patient always shows up at pharmacy looking for his meds. And there is someone who takes care of his medication. Now there wasn't any clear note about it on his profile besides some one wrote that" (person name ) found his meds." How would i know that someone else picks up his meds and he has some medical condition. I see people like him all time who are actually there for their meds. How would i remember patients if i am there just once a week for 4 hours. Whenever i am there i try to do data entry, dispensing and take calls all together, i don't mind if other tech and pharmacist stays on phone because i actually want to make career out of this. But situation likes above stresses me out, makes me feel like dumb person. Hopefully it changes.

Yeah, there is no way you could tell from that ambigious note what is going on, and of course, the assumption is if someone there is looking for their meds, well they probably are there to pick them up because 99% of the time that is what happens.

Another thing which is probably, unfortunately happening, is your co-workers aren't registering that you are only there 1 day a week. They are probably thinking "I knew all this stuff after I'd been here 1 month, and s/he doesn't know it after 4 months"....not making the connection that it makes a huge difference if someone is there 4 - 5 days a week, as opposed to 1 day a week. Not much you can do about that, except to realize its not you, and don't let other people make you feel dumb over it. I wouldn't worry about your manager asking about you to other people (maybe she is....maybe the other people are making that up to stir up trouble.) Many mediocre manager do the same thing--always schedule the new people on the other pharmacists shifts and never their own. A good pharmacy manager will either do the scheduling fairly, or will often schedule the weaker people on his/her shift, so they can help teach them and bring them up to speed. This job seems to fit your schedule well, so I would stick with it, and hopefully your next job will be a completely different experience.

 

[Lucky One]

Your only there once a week so I wouldn't put too much stress on yourself. The best way to learn which you know is just working more and being consistently exposed to the same things over and over until it gets ingrained in your brain.

They're probably trying to start you off slowly to learn the basics I don't think any pharmacy would put a person working once a week on their payroll. I first started once a week on a slow day during the summer to learn the workstations and then gradually working more and more. One tip in working in the pharmacy is to not take things personally. Just continue asking questions when you need help and being a hardworking, they'll come around after seeing your commitment to helping the team and they'll appreciate you more.

 

[TC621]

2 Things: You have a bully trying to strong arm success and simple biology at work here. You are younger, I bet prettier, work 1 day a week and are trying to adapt to the little fiefdom (she) the pharmacist has created. You'll be long gone before this pharmacy manager hag (if) ever has her epiphany. Also, a thicker covering of the ol' epidermis will help.

What??? How did you get that she was being bullied from this post???? This senior tech just told her to either read the note(as a friendly reminder) or to make her own judgement(something she will need to be doing as a pharmacist). Now i can understand that you only work there one day a week, but if this stresses you out, you're in for a world of awakening. I suggest you work a little more before you definitely decide to do pharmacy. I'm not trying to be negative, but I can't imagine your next post about when you eventually get chewed out by a patient for no reason. Just a side note I've been a tech now for a little over a year. Retail is not really the easiest thing, and most retail stores do throw you in expecting you to swim on your own. Just ask questions! The techs and pharmacists would gladly answer those questions sooner then have to fix your mistakes later.