1 pharmacist is better or 2-3 pharmacists?

[Sarapary]

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first of all I want to thank you all, this forum has been very helpful to me.

my question is if you had a choice between working in a store with 200-300 rx per day and you as the only pharmacist in the pharmacy AND a store with 500-600 rx per day with 3 pharmacists, which one do you choose and why?

 

[Quiksilver]

first of all I want to thank you all, this forum has been very helpful to me.

my question is if you had a choice between working in a store with 200-300 rx per day and you as the only pharmacist in the pharmacy AND a store with 500-600 rx per day with 3 pharmacists, which one do you choose and why?

the store with 3. you will get legitimate breaks and u have others to consult with

 

[R2pharmD2]

the store with 3. you will get legitimate breaks and u have others to consult with

+1
Especially as a new grad, I think I'd feel better having other pharmacists around to consult with for sure.

 

[Sparda29]

Whichever store doesn't have a drive thru.

 

[pharm B]

I definitely like the idea of working with others way more than I do the idea of working alone. You can get a pretty good team dynamic going if they're the right people, so if you need to take a mini-break, you can, etc. Being the only pharmacist on duty in retail can means being pulled every which way you can be, no holds barred.

 

[Pharmguy07]

The reality is usually 500+ with 1 or at most 2 pharmacists with little to no overlap.

 

[Sarapary]

The reality is usually 500+ with 1 or at most 2 pharmacists with little to no overlap.

what do you exactly mean by the reality? explain please, thanks!

 

[R2pharmD2]

The reality is usually 500+ with 1 or at most 2 pharmacists with little to no overlap.

That's not my experience. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, and what is "usual" can vary widely between chains and markets, but none of the pharmacies in my area that I'm aware of do that kind of volume with a single pharmacist.

 

[CUpharmD2013]

The reality is usually 500+ with 1 or at most 2 pharmacists with little to no overlap.

This. I work at a store that routinely does 400-500+ with only 1 pharmacist and no overlap. It used to be a 24 hour store so there were 2 pharmacists with no overlap. Since the conversion to normal hours, we haven't lost any script count, but they keep cutting our tech hours. More work in less time with less help.

 

[MountainPharmD]

This. I work at a store that routinely does 400-500+ with only 1 pharmacist and no overlap. It used to be a 24 hour store so there were 2 pharmacists with no overlap. Since the conversion to normal hours, we haven't lost any script count, but they keep cutting our tech hours. More work in less time with less help.

Welcome to retail pharmacy. Higher and higher expectaions with lower and lower resourses provided by the company.

I do not understand the logic that goes into the expectations of corporate retail management. They expect you to grow the business by 4% to 5% a year yet they cut your hours by 15%. I am no mathmatician but that equation does not balance out.

 

[R2pharmD2]

http://ncbop.org/faqs/Pharmacist/PharmacistWorkload-ErrorsStudy.pdf
According to that study, the mean and median number of rxs filled per pharmacist hour are 14.1 and 13.8, respectively. Using a 13 hour shift as a reference point, that works out to about 180 rxs per pharmacist, per shift. However, the range of rxs per pharmacist hour went all the way up to 41.5, or 539.5 in a 13 hour shift. So at least according to this study, the type of volume you guys are suggesting a retail pharmacist handles certainly occurs, but isn't the norm. This is the most recent data I saw with a quick pubmed search, but is from 2007 and I realize things may have gotten worse since then, so if anyone has something more recent I'd like to see that too.

 

[Neebs9]

I'm not quite sure on how the breaks work for a pharmacist, but at Wal-mart, if there are two pharmacist on duty, the pharmacy doesn't close down for lunch, regardless of overlaps, and no overlaps. I didn't see a pharmacist take a break when I was working with two pharmacist.

However, the technicians get a break.

I would probably choose the store with 200-300 rx's as long I have an intern(s) that can counsel and do transfers. Usually two interns are present and I would have one do counsels and the other do transfers, then rotate. Technicians do all the customer transactions, filling, etc.

This will give me a break to relax for thirty minutes and give my legs a breather.

 

[Quiksilver]

This. I work at a store that routinely does 400-500+ with only 1 pharmacist and no overlap. It used to be a 24 hour store so there were 2 pharmacists with no overlap. Since the conversion to normal hours, we haven't lost any script count, but they keep cutting our tech hours. More work in less time with less help.

I worked at a store that had such overlap with that many scripts. In fact one pharmacist would work the day, the other would do a 12 h shift. And then there was the night pharmacist to relieve the 12 h

 

[Ackj]

Theoretically, I agree with everybody who's said the teamwork stuff. However, in my limited experience, I've preferred the single pharmacist. Where I work, it's just one pharmacist 9am-9pm, alternating days with another one. Everything seems to go pretty smoothly, although they've both been pharmacists for a while, so I'm sure that plays into it heavily. We close 1/2 hour for lunch as well.

On the other hand, I had an IPPE with a 900+ rx store that had anywhere between 2-4 pharmacists depending on the time of day with overlap. It was pretty chaotic, and I could definitely see people stepping on each others' toes. You call about a script, leave the doc a message, somebody else takes the doc's callback, fills the script, you're left wondering. Or they take the callback and have no idea what the call was concerning. And there are always some differences of opinion/professional judgment/whatever, and things get sent back and forth. Plus side, you can always take a break whenever you need it, or if you get hung up on something, other rph are covering other work.

I'm sure on the grand scheme, teamwork is better, just hard to see it from my experiences. I really can't answer from an rph position anyway, where I would be the solo operator or the teammate, so take it all with a grain of salt.

 

[coffee4drug]

The best combination is one or two pharmacists with a team of experienced, hardworking technicians. This can tackle any busy store.

You don't want to see three pharmacists staring at a computer screen trying to figure out an insurance issue while a line of customers are waiting impatiently.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

I'm not quite sure on how the breaks work for a pharmacist, but at Wal-mart, if there are two pharmacist on duty, the pharmacy doesn't close down for lunch, regardless of overlaps, and no overlaps. I didn't see a pharmacist take a break when I was working with two pharmacist.

However, the technicians get a break.

I would probably choose the store with 200-300 rx's as long I have an intern(s) that can counsel and do transfers. Usually two interns are present and I would have one do counsels and the other do transfers, then rotate. Technicians do all the customer transactions, filling, etc.

This will give me a break to relax for thirty minutes and give my legs a breather.

I doubt most stores have an intern on duty (working) ALL the time. Maybe during the summer and on holiday breaks. And not every intern can be trusted to counsel independently. There are variations (per state law) on what interns can and cannot do as well. Sometimes it varies with how far the intern has progressed in school. If you are using intern to mean IPPE/APPE student, they are often more trouble than they are worth and vary WIDELY in their preparation/trustworthiness/skills. If I were the only pharmacist in a store, I wouldn't WANT an IPPE/APPE student to deal with.

 

[ispeshaled]

I currently work at a 24 hour store that fills 600-700 on a typical weekday. We have 2 experienced pharmacists who alternate 8am-4pm and 2pm to 10pm shifts throughout the week. We also have a fresh grad pharmacist who comes in 3 times a week to work an 11am-7pm shift.

Even with this system, it's still pretty chaotic throughout the week.