Overnight Pharmacists... Are you happy?/ Anybody with a pharmacy job that is not retail.

[SELDANE]

Please don't forget the night pharmacist that shows up 30 minutes late.....

Fair enough... Point taken.

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[Vatic]

The big difference I noticed working days is that I didn't have to be at so many places at once like during the graveyard shift. During the day there is someone at the drivethru, someone at the register, another tech at the in window. Like an electron in the s orbital I was exerting the least possible kinetic energy during the day shift. At night I felt like I an electron not in a p, not a d, but an f orbital. The night pharmacist has to be a Kwisatz Haderach, "the one who can be at many places at once."

And about getting relieved on time. Don't get me started. You know the day guys are supposed to overlap between 2pm to 4pm on weekdays. The weekends 1pm-4pm. Now everybody knows people are drifting in late and cutting early especially on the weekends. A deal is often made when the same two pharmacists are working that on Sat the 1st shift works till 8am to 4pm and the 2nd guys works from 4pm to 9pm. Then on Sunday the roles reverse. So that's two pharmacists shaving 3 hours just on the weekends per pay period. If you add up all the coming in at 230 and leaving at 330 during the weekdays these guys are probably working the same if not less hours than the graveyard! No wonder the work queue has over 250 in it. It's fine and dandy if they want to do this, but for heaven's sake you better relieve me on time at 8am 90% of the time. And 8am doesn't mean showing up right at 8am. What ever happened to the professional courtesy of coming in at least 10 minutes early so I can do a proper handoff, tell my relief of any pending problems, wind up my last register transaction, not have to pick up a phone call right at 7:59 that is not a quick refill.

Back in the day we used to have to count down a register. If I'm the only person until 8am guess what? I was stuck there at least 20 more minutes. Not what usually happened after a party weekend? The hungover tech would be late. The hungover pharmacist late. So add that to the 20 minutes. One time during the fall time change when the 12 hour shift becomes a 13 hour slog, the party boy pharmacist who's my relief rolls in an extra hour late. No phone call, no apology, no making the time up later. That was ok. I only had to drive 43 miles home.

 

[cnicolef08]

Please don't forget the morning pharmacist that shows up 30 minutes late.

Amen. There's nothing I want more than to perhaps leave work on time for a change. But that won't happen if my relief pharmacist decides to sit in the Chick fil A drive thru or go to the cafeteria to get breakfast when they are supposed to be at work. And for the gentleman that said "don't forget the night shift pharmacist that shows up 30 min late"..... that may very well be true but at my hospital, when I get to work, there are 2 pharmacists here. So if I happen to be 30 min late, they still have 2 pharms and 4 techs here. If the am pharmacist is late, its just me and 1 tech.

Either way, this isn't a finger pointing session. Day shift can be slow AND busy sometimes. Night shift can be slow AND busy sometimes. They both present a number of challenges in their own ways. There's no one shift that's the "hard working" group and the other group is full of slackers. If you feel that way, switch shifts and test the waters.


*can't we all just get along?*

 

[PharmDnewb]

I worked overnights for a 900-1000 rx/day CVS for 1.5 years before finding a new job. I don't miss working overnights and I especially don't miss working for CVS.

Pros:
You are alone in your own world doing your own thing w/ minimal customer interaction. I got to blast whatever music I wanted to when I worked.
Less chaotic than working the day shift at that same store.

Cons:
You are alone and have no help if it gets busy
Day shift usually expects you to pick up their slack

Neutral:
No one to talk to. It didn't bother me most of the time since I was always had a lot of work to do but there were days when it got lonely and boring.

7on 7off wasn't really for me. I really couldn't do much during the week on. It was basically wake up, workout, then go to work. The week off was nice but I don't go on a lot of vacations and all of my friends work during the week so I usually ended up wasting the week doing nothing.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Well no doubt they are not sitting on their asses, but in terms of what they do compare to the day time pharmacist it's not even close and that will go for almost any industry that is open 24 hours- do you know any Pharmacy that does more scripts over night than daytime? I think not!!!!

And how much help does first shift have compared to 3rd shift? 3rd shift is normally by themselves, 1 person doing everything. Day shift usually has a few technicians, a cashier, and often some pharmacist overlap.

If you think 3rd shift is that rosy, why aren't you working 3rd shift yourself?

 

[BidingMyTime]

This has to be the most idiotic post- so when you are sleeping the Day pharmacist is working and so is the majority of Americans. Also, MD's office are open during the time when your ass is sleep,- how the hell do you think you "deserve" more money when you are doing less of the business- what an idiot you are to have that kind of rationale. Run a report at your pharmacy and see how many new prescriptions get typed in during the day hours versus the night- what a joke.

Oh yes, because sleeping during the day when outside traffic and construction and neighbors mowing their lawn and screaming kids playing outside is no different then sleeping at night when everybody else is sleeping and its dark and quiet. Sleeping during the day is NOT the same as sleeping at night, and the reason 3rd shift IS paid more, is because few people want to do it.

 

[farmadiazepine]

This has to be the most idiotic post- so when you are sleeping the Day pharmacist is working and so is the majority of Americans. Also, MD's office are open during the time when your ass is sleep,- how the hell do you think you "deserve" more money when you are doing less of the business- what an idiot you are to have that kind of rationale. Run a report at your pharmacy and see how many new prescriptions get typed in during the day hours versus the night- what a joke.

And FYI 3 years ago I did over night for 10 and 1/2 months and I would say about 95% of the time I was basically done at 5am(this was a 9pm to 7am shift). Pretty much after 1am you get your couple of ER scripts and around 4 to 5 am you get a couple of elderly people calling in their refills- there was never 10 people in line or 3 to 4 cars in drive thru- no visits from Drug reps- no visits from the Supervisor, the phone was never ringing constantly off the hook- heck from 12am to 7 pm- you may average 3 phone calls in those 7 hours- work day shift you get 3 phone calls all at one time for the majority of the day. How many faxes are coming in over night? If you get one that's considered busy- how many e-scribes are coming through over night? Give it a rest- everyone knows typically your over night pharmacist are your "weakest" pharmacist- heck most Pharmacy Supervisors wouldn't dare put a really good pharmacist over night unless they had too- I work over night because the pharmacist was out on military leave- it was the 10 and 1/2 months of stress free work.

This is the kind of idiot mentality I am talking about. It's not about numbers. It's not how many prescriptions you do after a certain time.

When I say I am working while you are sleeping, think about it. F*cking think about it.

Short answer, because I believe you must be very narrow minded: Sleeping during the day is extremely unnatural. Now take that a bit further.

Learning how to adjust to a week off is unlearning how to be a zombie every week again. Having to work 7 in a row is having to give up a life for 7 days in a row. Having to sleep during the day is having to consistently day after day fool your internal clock and brain into believing its dark outside when it isn't.

Unnatural.

And by the way I am waking up from 17 hours of sleep. How did it happen? I don't know. Because my body is probably f*cking screwed up.

 

[Vatic]

Of the fortnight cycle I came to realize the most important day is the first day off after working 7 nights. The trick was to sleep for just 3 or 4 hours after getting home. Drag myself to the gym even though I felt gross and try to exhaust myself so to have enough ballast not to wake up at 3am the first night off. Cause if I did start pulling that crap then whole week could be lost. I would be discombobulated falling asleep anytime during the day throughout the week. A couple times I went thru a string of not decompressing right for two cycles straight. That was two months of my life lost.

 

[farmadiazepine]

Yea I feel you on that. What I do honestly varies. It's been 4 years working overnights. Usually on Mondays I will do all my errands and stay up till 2pm. Then go to sleep and wake up the next day around 6am. But this past year that routine has been failing me, and I don't know why. Now what I do is what you mentioned. I go home, go to sleep about 6 hours. Then I wake up no matter how miserable I feel, but most times a actually feel good, do what I have to do, and go to bed and I wake up Tuesday like 8 am.

The problem I'm feeling nowadays is that even waking up on Tuesday, no matter how well rested I am or not, I still feel like a zombie. It takes me that entire day plus an extra night of sleep to feel like a normal human being again on Wednesday.

 

[Vatic]

Your body needs dense nutrition to recover. I used to steam some spinach and have a baked potato before the gym, but later I discovered kale. It stays fresh longer without getting that biofilm like spinach. What I do is tear it into pieces and toss around in a bowl coated with olive oil. Lay the kale chips on parchment paper, sprinkle tumeric, sea salt, pop in oven for about 10 minutes. Do that first before grabbing the junk food. It will make a big difference as far cravings the rest of the day.

Another problem kale can fix is the IBS common to graveyard workers. I was always either constipated or had diarrhea, never a nice stool. Try a GBOMBS salad.

Greens....kale
Beans....navy, kidney, whatever from a can
Onions
Mushrooms
Berries...straw,blue,rasp,black ( antioxidant rich and trace mineral)
Seeds....flax,chia,pumpkin,sunflower

The lignins in the beans and the fiber in the shrooms will help to form a nice stool.

 

[Rxnupe]

This is the kind of idiot mentality I am talking about. It's not about numbers. It's not how many prescriptions you do after a certain time.

When I say I am working while you are sleeping, think about it. F*cking think about it.

Short answer, because I believe you must be very narrow minded: Sleeping during the day is extremely unnatural. Now take that a bit further.

Learning how to adjust to a week off is unlearning how to be a zombie every week again. Having to work 7 in a row is having to give up a life for 7 days in a row. Having to sleep during the day is having to consistently day after day fool your internal clock and brain into believing its dark outside when it isn't.

Unnatural.

And by the way I am waking up from 17 hours of sleep. How did it happen? I don't know. Because my body is probably f*cking screwed up.

Anyone taking an over night is aware of the sleep pattern change- so that is an idiotic post- if someone applies for a warehouse job that states: "must be able to lift packages exceeding 50lbs.." don't go crying that your job is more physically demanding than other jobs- you know what you were getting into when you took the over night job. What fool would take an over night job if they have difficulty sleeping in the day time or staying awake after 12am- jeez!!!!

 

[BidingMyTime]

Anyone taking an over night is aware of the sleep pattern change- so that is an idiotic post- if someone applies for a warehouse job that states: "must be able to lift packages exceeding 50lbs.." don't go crying that your job is more physically demanding than other jobs- you know what you were getting into when you took the over night job. What fool would take an over night job if they have difficulty sleeping in the day time or staying awake after 12am- jeez!!!!

You sound insanely jealous of 3rd shift workers, you didn't answer my question, why aren't you working a 3rd shift job since you think those jobs are so great? Or is the truth you no longer work at a 3rd shift job because you couldn't handle it?

People who SACRIFICE more for their jobs ARE paid more. That is how the world works. That is why physically demanding jobs like lifting packages or construction work are paid more than cashiers or secretaries. That is why 3rd shift workers are paid more than 1st/2nd shift workers. Yes, people know the sacrifice going in, but the reason they agree to that sacrifice is because of getting better compensated. You apparently don't like that because YOU think you should get the higher pay without having to sacrifice anything, but that is not how the real world works. If you want the higher pay, then you will have to be willing to sacrifice for that higher pay.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

And please, I'm so sick of day time RPh's who do an occasional overnight here or there and say how easy it is. Work at least a year before you have an opinion or can claim you have figured it all out.

This is high on my list of **** that pisses me off, too. You think it was easy? Fella, it was Saturday night and the only damn thing you did was the readyfills.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Please don't forget the morning pharmacist that shows up 30 minutes late.

If someone shows up late, I get on their case heavily. Mike don't play that game. If someone showed up 30 minutes late, I'd tell them straight up, "I'm coming in 30 minutes late tonight." Hasn't happened yet because the pharmacists I work with are professionals. A girl at a store I was covering for came in 10 minutes late once and I gave her a piece of my mind so bad that she called me the next night and apologized.

 

[Bubba98]

Happy

 

[Sparda29]

Well no doubt they are not sitting on their asses, but in terms of what they do compare to the day time pharmacist it's not even close and that will go for almost any industry that is open 24 hours- do you know any Pharmacy that does more scripts over night than daytime? I think not!!!!

The hospital pharmacy.

 

[OmiPharmD]

do you know any Pharmacy that does more scripts over night than daytime? I think not!!!!

I work at an academic medical center and our night shift pharmacists do less orders overall but more per pharmacist than A or B shift. They are responsible for everything and it can get very hairy overnight. We're lucky to have competent, experienced pharmacists who want to work 3rd shift. When one of them goes on vacation it's often a real eye opener for the person who covers.

 

[Dapharmacist1]

hypothetically speaking what if you worked a GY shift that is stress free VATIC would you still only do it for 2 years max? I can understand if the GY shift is hectic and stressful might as well work the days. What health problems have you encountered working GY? Im just about to reach 2 years of working GY.

 

[Momus]

hypothetically speaking what if you worked a GY shift that is stress free VATIC would you still only do it for 2 years max? I can understand if the GY shift is hectic and stressful might as well work the days. What health problems have you encountered working GY? Im just about to reach 2 years of working GY.

Increase risk of stroke, heart attack, mood/mental problem, fertility & pregnancy problem, GI problem, diabetes, and cancer in the long term. Also, no life for at least 7 days. Basically trading your health/life for money. Now, you wonder why they pay you $5 extra.

 

[Dapharmacist1]

Damn Momus you are starting to scare me now. I am in decent shape and not overweight (i try to run a few miles before work) but maybe 2 years is the max. I was talking to the GY MD who works in the ER and she said the same thing to me and not to mention the previous pharmacist who i replaced pretty much had most of the problems you mentioned above.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

I've lost weight since I started...and I'm pretty happy.

 

[cnicolef08]

Damn Momus you are starting to scare me now. I am in decent shape and not overweight (i try to run a few miles before work) but maybe 2 years is the max. I was talking to the GY MD who works in the ER and she said the same thing to me and not to mention the previous pharmacist who i replaced pretty much had most of the problems you mentioned above.

The pharmacist that I replaced on night shift had high blood pressure and popped ambien like skittles. But he also ate microwaveable high sodium meals every day, drank several cups of coffee (filled with cream and sugar) per shift and ate lots of high calorie snacks. So I believe that if you take good care of yourself, get enough sleep, exercise, you can save yourself from a lot of the health risks of night shift. I still plan to do it for 5 years max. He did it for about 10.

 

[sakigt]

Learning how to adjust to a week off is unlearning how to be a zombie every week again. Having to work 7 in a row is having to give up a life for 7 days in a row. Having to sleep during the day is having to consistently day after day fool your internal clock and brain into believing its dark outside when it isn't.
.

When the other M-F Pharmacists start to mouth the words "your 7 days off must be so nice" I suggest they could try it out and see how nice it is and they admit they would hate it. Dur.

 

[Sparda29]

When the other M-F Pharmacists start to mouth the words "your 7 days off must be so nice" I suggest they could try it out and see how nice it is and they admit they would hate it. Dur.

One pharmacist I knew who worked overnights back in the day said that he made an arrangement with the director that he'd leave 1/2 hr before sunrise and come in 12 hours before that. Sunrise at 7AM = he's out at 630am and came in at 630pm. That way when he gets home, it's still dark outside so he falls asleep right away. Now this meant that the first morning pharmacist also had a schedule that revolved around the schedule of this guy. The day shift at this hospital also had staggered schedules and worked 12 hour shifts only difference from night shift was that it wasn't 7 on 7 off.

Not sure how many directors would be willing to put up with that.

 

[BidingMyTime]

The pharmacist that I replaced on night shift had high blood pressure and popped ambien like skittles. But he also ate microwaveable high sodium meals every day, drank several cups of coffee (filled with cream and sugar) per shift and ate lots of high calorie snacks. So I believe that if you take good care of yourself, get enough sleep, exercise, you can save yourself from a lot of the health risks of night shift. I still plan to do it for 5 years max. He did it for about 10.

This. I don't think its working 3rd shift per se that is bad for ones health, rather its the lifestyle that makes it possible (sugary snacks, massive caffeine, hard to work in exercise, not taking the time during the day to sleep, etc.)

 

[Momus]

This. I don't think its working 3rd shift per se that is bad for ones health, rather its the lifestyle that makes it possible (sugary snacks, massive caffeine, hard to work in exercise, not taking the time during the day to sleep, etc.)

The GY I replaced got stroke twice; he did it for at least 25 years. The 2nd time made him stupid so he retired. He is one of the healthiest pharmacist I know. Always exercise every day and eat right. I went from boondocks store to city store because he can't work as pharmacist anymore. Then, I stop doing GY 4 years later.

"There is strong evidence that shift work is related to a number of serious health conditions, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity," says Frank Scheer PhD, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "These differences we're seeing can't just be explained by lifestyle or socioeconomic status."

 

[OldPhotography]

I'm in your same boat. I'm pre-pharmacy and I have been a pharmacist technician at a chain since I was 18 (for 2.5 years now). I love pharmacy and the material associated with it, it's just getting increasingly difficult to deal with the kinds of people that you encounter in retail. Of course, if I have to then I will - I have no problem with it. The more I work in the retail, the more cold I get... lol. But I've been looking at doing a residency once I'm out of pharmacy school and after talking with some clinical pharmacists that frequent the retail pharmacy that I work at, I think I'm convinced to do one if there are a lot of opportunities in a few years. They all said they worked retail before and are so much happier with their job now. I can't say I'd want to do the graveyard shift like you, but I definitely wouldn't mind a change of scenery. Good luck to you!

 

[farmadiazepine]

Numb as a rock.

 

[Sparda29]

If someone shows up late, I get on their case heavily. Mike don't play that game. If someone showed up 30 minutes late, I'd tell them straight up, "I'm coming in 30 minutes late tonight." Hasn't happened yet because the pharmacists I work with are professionals. A girl at a store I was covering for came in 10 minutes late once and I gave her a piece of my mind so bad that she called me the next night and apologized.

Damn, you'd prolly hate me then. For my 3pm-11pm shift, I'd always show up a minute after 3.

 

[BidingMyTime]

"There is strong evidence that shift work is related to anumber of serious health conditions, like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity," says Frank Scheer PhD, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "These differences we're seeing can't just be explained by lifestyle or socioeconomic status."

Interesting. Surely there is a study on this, to see if lifestyle or other factors do make a difference. And does it make a difference if one is up all night because they are compelled by their job to be, as compared to someone being up half the night by choice (like I am right now?) You mention knowing a healthy 3rd shifter who had 2 strokes, but healthy first shift shifters sometimes have strokes to. Not having risk factors, doesn't mean someone is at 0 risk. I guess I just don't understand how this medically would work. Like Scheer mentions obesity rates are higher, the obvious answer to me would be because 3rd shifters are eating more junk food and drinking more sugary soda to stay awake, then a first/second shifter, and that its hard for them to find a gym to exercise at the hours they want to exercise. If not this, then he is saying that working 3rd shift throws off ones metabolism, and I just don't see how this would happen unless one were not getting their 8 hours sleep at some point (in which case it would seem the direct cause is lack of sleep, not working 3rd shift.)

, I think I'm convinced to do one if there are a lot of opportunities in a few years. They all said they worked retail before and are so much happier with their job now!

Clinical positions have been shrinking over the last few years, not growing. The majority of pharmacists work in retail, the bigger minority in regular hospital, there are very few pharmacists who actually work as clinical pharmacists, and even fewer who do so full-time. Only go in to pharmacy if you would be able to work as a retail pharmacist, because statistically, you will be working as a retail pharmacist and not a clinical pharmacist.

 

[Dapharmacist1]

While browsing the web i came across this graveyard pharmacist who has a paleo food blog. She also makes some interesting comments about working GY. Check it out: http://nomnompaleo.com/post/55156756199/surviving-the-night-shift
I think she recently stopped working nights.
http://nomnompaleo.com/post/90787208973/independence-day

 

[Momus]

If not this, then he is saying that working 3rd shift throws off ones metabolism, and I just don't see how this would happen unless one were not getting their 8 hours sleep at some point (in which case it would seem the direct cause is lack of sleep, not working 3rd shift.)

Your circadian rhythm regulates when body function works/hormones gets released or not in a certain time. Blood pressure regulation, leptin, lower serotonin, digestion, immune system, and testosterone, estrogen, progestin, lipid production, myriads of other chemical regulation that I failed to mention all link to a circadian rhythm. Instead of getting a full dose of chemical/hormones function, maybe you only get half of it since you throw your body clock out of whack every week. No matter how hard you think you can trick yourself, if you are trying to adjust that 52 times in a year in and out, there are consequences.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Your circadian rhythm regulates when body function works/hormones gets released or not in a certain time. Blood pressure regulation, leptin, lower serotonin, digestion, immune system, and testosterone, estrogen, progestin, lipid production, myriads of other chemical regulation that I failed to mention all link to a circadian rhythm. Instead of getting a full dose of chemical/hormones function, maybe you only get half of it since you throw your body clock out of whack every week. No matter how hard you think you can trick yourself, if you are trying to adjust that 52 times in a year in and out, there are consequences.

So the problem is NOT working 3rd shift, its swing shifting back and forth. If someone keeps the same sleep schedule on their days off, as when they are working, then they wouldn't be at increased risk of health problems. So it's a lifestyle choice being made (albeit many times a necessary one), that causes the increased health problems on 3rd shift, not 3rd shift per se.

 

[Momus]

So the problem is NOT working 3rd shift, its swing shifting back and forth. If someone keeps the same sleep schedule on their days off, as when they are working, then they wouldn't be at increased risk of health problems. So it's a lifestyle choice being made (albeit many times a necessary one), that causes the increased health problems on 3rd shift, not 3rd shift per se.

Yep, your circadian rhythm being fu3k up constantly that's the culprit of health problem down the road.

 

[sakigt]

Now granted I think being a fatty McFat Pants has mostly to do with why as a nation were so unhealthy......

But you would think for millions of years (or thousands depending on your preference) humans have been getting up when the sun rose and going to sleep when the sun goes down, with a little 2 hour wake up in the middle. I think the "average" 9-5 guy with an hour commute watching the late show before going to bed is doing just as much if not more harm than shift work.

 

[Momus]

Now granted I think being a fatty McFat Pants has mostly to do with why as a nation were so unhealthy......

But you would think for millions of years (or thousands depending on your preference) humans have been getting up when the sun rose and going to sleep when the sun goes down, with a little 2 hour wake up in the middle. I think the "average" 9-5 guy with an hour commute watching the late show before going to bed is doing just as much if not more harm than shift work.

There is a difference between sleeping 2 hours late and messing up your body clock every 7 days. Try to stay up until 7 am in the morning, get used to it, and reverse it every week and tell me which one feel worse.

 

[Dapharmacist1]

Yea, on first day back to work im pretty much up for 20-24 hours straight trying to adjust back to the GY shift and on my first day off i only sleep 4 hours and switch back to normal regular mid-8am sleep. Also, after working for 2 years i seem to have lost my appetite for food. Hopefully i wont have to do it for much longer.

 

[Bubba98]

Well adding up all those summer nights when I was a kid, half my college years, the graveyard shift and what my future children will do to me, I've pretty much taken my circadian rhythm out to the woodshed. I should be dead within the decade. Should have been a childless sheep herder. Oh well pass the bacon.

 

[KennethCool]

Well no doubt they are not sitting on their asses, but in terms of what they do compare to the day time pharmacist it's not even close and that will go for almost any industry that is open 24 hours- do you know any Pharmacy that does more scripts over night than daytime? I think not!!!!

Pretty much any nuclear pharmacy.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Much happier working nightshift personally. Melatonin helps (placebo at minimum) my sleep pattern, and I manage 6hrs of sleep at least every day during my work week. I sleep 8-10hrs nightly during my week off.

Working nightshift makes going to the gym harder, but I’ve picked up running more and started building a home gym.

Even if I had the opportunity to work days... I don’t think I would. No traffic driving to and from work is great too. Shift differential doesn’t do much but it’s nice I guess.


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[WVUPharm2007]

Working nightshift makes going to the gym harder

Start going right after work. It's a breeze. The morning rush is over and it's just you and the retired people.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

Start going right after work. It's a breeze. The morning rush is over and it's just you and the retired people.

My gym is slammed at 5-7am. I went at 6am immediately after work for a while, but it was hard to get into mentally. Lost the habit now.


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[WVUPharm2007]

My gym is slammed at 5-7am. I went at 6am immediately after work for a while, but it was hard to get into mentally. Lost the habit now.


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Oh, wow, you get off work way earlier than I thought. I get off at 9AM.

 

[Charcoales]

Oh, wow, you get off work way earlier than I thought. I get off at 9AM.

Same get there at 9

 

[Xenophylia]

Will share my story as an overnite long term care pharmacist. Sounded good after spending the last 16 years in retail. Had no problems adapting to the 10pm to 6am shift and or sleeping days. Job started off ok- mostly answering nursing calls and the occasional overnight stat med. The initial idea was to relieve the day pharmacists of having to be "on call" on weeknights. Simple enough, or so it sounded. I was originally to have two technicians as well. I started with only one trained tech and was immediately told the other position had already been cut. Should have been the first red flag. We made due as the workload started out light. Tech only lasted 3 months. Then I worked alone. Employer was very slow to rehire a tech, but eventually I did get another one. Meanwhile the work load began getting larger and larger. Flash forward to a few weeks ago when I finally had enough and gave them my notice. I was inputting a minimum of 150 NEW rxs a night. Techs (we had finally gotten a second) were now forced to run a lion's share of the daytime cycle work so little time for them to help me with the daily work. I would sometimes have to input 200+ rxs....fill them...run them through QA and pack them up for the drivers. There were many nights I had to cherry pick through to find the important orders as there was no way one person could do them all and get them out in an 8 hour shift.

I'd seen someone mention in an earlier post about "carrying the day shift on your back". Well that's exactly what happened. We had three people there at night. Day shift had over 50 and we were outputting as many rxs for our am runs as they did (if not more so). I would come to work at 10pm only to find no one had done ANY data entry for 6-8 hours and would start out 200 orders in the hole. This became the norm. Complaints to day shift and management were ignored- I had improved the quality of life for day shift, after all! Finally another provider contacted me seeking to start a night shift and I jumped ship. Starting the new position shortly. I only hope my new employers don't make the same mistake. So buyer definitely beware as to taking on an overnite shift....

 

[Emmet2301]

^It'd be great if you could update as to what happened at your last company now that you're gone haha.

 

[PharmDBro2017]

That sounds pretty terrible carrying day shift like that... I can’t imagine. I would’ve quit ASAP too.


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[johnpharm01]

Xenophylia- looks like you had some bad management and they really took advantage of you. I have seen this multiple times. Worked day shift and the night shift would apparently do no work. Come in at 8 AM and much of the overnight work would be sitting there. Complain to management to avail. I had my fill when I found a book tucked away near the production line. Fact is, as long as the work is getting done, most managers just don't care. Saw the same thing in a clinical role. Was on an interview and the impression I got us that staff would not pull their weight (they asked what you would do if someone else was not getting their work done).

 

[HandsomeVampire]

Overnight is great, I wish I can be a regular overnight pharmacist

 

[Xenophylia]

This all literally just happened so I'll post as things develop. I took a "mental health"week off between jobs and the new one starts in a few days. I gave my previous employer a generous 3 weeks notice. During that time they hired two new pharmacists who are supposedly going to work the "7 on 7 off" scenario. I'm certain that the newbies have no idea what they're in for. There is no training program there per se (the day shifters are all far too "busy")- you learn mostly by osmosis. The most recent staffer there trained for almost 4 months and knew literally nothing when she exited training (and was pretty much eaten alive her first solo weekend). Find it funny that the "7 on" idea was never pitched to me while I was there. I'm also not sure how they ever managed to add another full time pharmacist to the payroll without the bigwigs flipping out. Can't imagine the burnout potential of working 7x 12 hour days of that punishment. But time will tell. The day shift people ultimately want no on call responsibilities and they usually get what they want. They have the numbers.

But I'm not giving up on the concept. With a reasonable workload it would have been great. No screaming customers, no visits from corporate dinguses telling you how to do your job (whilst not having done a real job themselves in years). A lot of the nursing questions were downright silly, but were certainly tolerable and added an unintentional levity to the experience. The techs I had throughout were decent and certainly did their part and they too shared the opinion we were being taken advantage of. I'm still in contact with them so we'll see how things go in my absence. I tried to leave on good terms but think I still pissed the powers that be off by having the nerve to leave. My new job was obtained by word of mouth so it wasn't like I was even actively looking but would have felt like a fool not to take the opportunity falling into my lap. Time will tell if it was a wise move or not.

And yes, management there was pretty much non existent. The real manager left 8 months ago and was replaced from within by pretty much the only person who wanted the title. Corporate had the impression that night shift was "a waste of money" from the get go and only started it at the insistence of the other pharmacists to do away with being on call weeknights. The structure of the company itself was a train wreck and to add even more "fun" to the dysfunction we were in the middle of a "merger" aka buyout (it's business as usual!!!) with some other entity we had been told little to nothing about. Hell, the place I left may not even exist in 6 months.

The place I'm going seems a bit more together and structured but I guess I'll find out. I'm sure there will be more developments and I'll post them as they occur.