Are pharmacists useless?

[codeman2012]

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Nurses talk like that to everybody. Because they can. There is shortage of nurses in the country, they don't graduate enough nurses, nurses don't want to teach because the clinical salary is so much higher, nursing unions in the hospital are dominating, we are swamped by nursing administrators, educators, clinicians... yada, yada, yada. The system is bent out of proportion, trust me we all are in the same boat. Hopefully, as time passes and nursing shortage is resolved, things will change for better. When you can afford to fire one or two at will, things get much more collegial quickly. But for now you just have to make a decision not to take crap from anybody who's signature is not on your paycheck. That's logical, right?

You are upset about super-chains in the pharmacy. You are not alone. We all complain about corporations in medicine, insurance companies, 20 year old account managers telling us how to run the place. Its everywhere. Medicine became business long time ago. Some people get discouraged, some people become leaders in the field and fight it. Some people decide to ignore it and utilize the system to generate maximum possible financial benefit for their practice. As professionals, PharmDs are in a pretty sweet spot in compensation vs responsibility/years in education ratio. Enjoy it while it lasts. Invest it. You will have kids to put through college pretty soon.

Yes, sometimes MDs are "short" with pharmacists. Usually it means that they are also "short" with other MDs, RNs, and families. Or maybe he/she was on for 26hr at that point and cannot think straight anymore. So, don't take it personally. Every hospital will have it's extensive list of *****holes. We all know them, we all ignore them. Med school admission is not a popularity contest. Some of the most intelligent people I know are not exactly Mary Sunshine. Just don't confuse their lack of communication skills with disrespect to your profession. We all know a good thing when we see it. We work long weeks and we are thankful for any help we get.

Thanks! I appreciate the insight. I will be sending you a PM shortly with some more questions about some things if thats alright? Finally, a post worth reading! 😀

 

[Old Timer]

Hmm.. Well thats nice. I have worked retail for a while and there is nothing clinical about it. I work for that 3-letter company that does nothing but buy other chains... Yeah you know, the one who has single-handedly ruined the public's perception of the pharmacist. Pharmacists to the public are nothing more than glorified pill counters and you now its true. Do you enjoy the laughable "Patient Care Initiative"? I love how they try to pass this off as a benefit to the patient. YEAH RIGHT. They couldn't care less about the patient, all they care about is catching a few of the prescriptions that fall between the cracks when the old people "forget" to fill their meds. I am really interested to hear exactly what clinical skills you get to practice at that company.. ? Call the Dr. to verify a sloppy script? Dosage? Oh wait, prior authorization! Now that is very clinical! You know retail is a just an easy paycheck, "Knucklehead".


P.S. Do you have an ExtraCare card you want me to scan with your condoms & monistat? HAHA

You my friend have what is called a bad attitude. That's because you work with pharmacists who only want to count pills. I work for CVS and I have no trouble with being clinical all the time... It's up to you how you want to practice.

Like only pharmacy deals with prior auths. Doc's don't hospitals don't only retail deal with P/A's.

There is no point in debating with you as you wouldn't know the truth if it bit you on the nose. Don't practice in retail. But just remember when you hate working hospital because nurses are bitchy and admin come down on your budget and some a-hole doc tries to force you ti dispense two things you shouldn't you realize that old a-hole on SDN was right, the biggest battle you face in life is not with CVS or whatever hospital you work for, but with yourself. Your attitude creates your own level of happiness.....

 

[codeman2012]

You my friend have what is called a bad attitude. That's because you work with pharmacists who only want to count pills. I work for CVS and I have no trouble with being clinical all the time... It's up to you how you want to practice.

Like only pharmacy deals with prior auths. Doc's don't hospitals don't only retail deal with P/A's.

There is no point in debating with you as you wouldn't know the truth if it bit you on the nose. Don't practice in retail. But just remember when you hate working hospital because nurses are bitchy and admin come down on your budget and some a-hole doc tries to force you ti dispense two things you shouldn't you realize that old a-hole on SDN was right, the biggest battle you face in life is not with CVS or whatever hospital you work for, but with yourself. Your attitude creates your own level of happiness.....

Lets get this straight "Old Timer". I am one of the nicest guys you will ever talk to and I will do anything to make patients happy - but YOU my friend are the one who called me out and on top of that called me a name. YOU are the one who started that little spat so don't give me that yada yada yada about a "bad attitude". Its funny how you say you are so "clinical" with your job but didn't go any further... I know CVS' propaganda about "helpings patients live healthier, happier lives" blah blah and its complete crap. You cannot provide CARE when you have 500 scripts to check and no overlap. At my store we did 1200 a day with only 3 pharmacists.. Yeah you have time to be real clinical. As that WVU guy said, I'll take the bitchy nurses over the push customers any day.

 

[ZigZag]

Lets get this straight "Old Timer". I am one of the nicest guys you will ever talk to and I will do anything to make patients happy - but YOU my friend are the one who called me out and on top of that called me a name. YOU are the one who started that little spat so don't give me that yada yada yada about a "bad attitude". Its funny how you say you are so "clinical" with your job but didn't go any further... I know CVS' propaganda about "helpings patients live healthier, happier lives" blah blah and its complete crap. You cannot provide CARE when you have 500 scripts to check and no overlap. At my store we did 1200 a day with only 3 pharmacists.. Yeah you have time to be real clinical. As that WVU guy said, I'll take the bitchy nurses over the push customers any day.

The part that you do not realize is that this is a common sentiment among all the medicine related professions. The war is going on. "HMOs are telling me that I need to spend 10 minutes per patient just to stay afloat", "I have 5 people in the waiting room of the emergency department and I have to disposition my 7 active patients", "I have to dictate 10 discharge summaries and finish rounds, when am I supposed to think clinically?" It is a skill, bro. Every day you will be hard pressed to "move the meat" and finish your paperwork. You can treat is as a distraction and annoyance, or you can treat it as a service that you provide to people. Service that is in high demand. With time, you learn to recognize patterns and become efficient. You learn to deal with routine things without thinking and focus on cases that really need you attention. But when they come up (and they will), you better be ready. That is why you spend all those years in school.

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

Just by posting "stupid post" on which happened to be my opinion, you in turn just made yourself look ignorant at best.

I can afford to look and sound ignorant.

I feel that MD's are one of the biggest barriers to pharmacists providing direct care to the patients. Having worked in a hospital before I know first-hand how MD's talk to pharmacists and even how nurses try to belittle them. Its flat out ridiculous to be honest. Pharmacists are treated as 2nd-class professionals only because of what the super-chains have done in the field.

That's your perception of how things are in a hospital and it's unfortunate that your perception is your reality. But that is hardly the case. The goal of healthcare is to take care of patients with different experts providing different expertise to improve patient care. If you're so worried about being a 2nd rate pro and lose sight of what you're trying to accomplish, then you need to dig deeper and realize what it is you want out of pharmacy.

 

[ItsOverZyvox]

HMOs are telling me that I need to spend 10 minutes per patient just to stay afloat"

Dude..you need to go faster than that!

 

[RNtoPharmD]

Hopefully, as time passes and nursing shortage is resolved, things will change for better. When you can afford to fire one or two at will, things get much more collegial quickly. But for now you just have to make a decision not to take crap from anybody who's signature is not on your paycheck. That's logical, right? .

FYI, the nursing shortage will never be resolved😀 While some nurses are leaving the profession, some young new grads are coming in. It is a neverending cycle..
One thing we can do to decrease rthe esistance from RNs and MD regarding the pharmacist expanded roles is to drastically change pharmacy curriculum by including the health assessment & diagnosis courses in pharmacy school. eg, including courses in PA or NP curriculum into pharmacy. Expand pharmacy school to 8 years 😀 so that we can claim that we can also diagnose and independently prescribe drugs. This can be done in less time if we are all willing to sacrifice our summers to take these courses.

 

[PharmDstudent]

One thing we can do to decrease rthe esistance from RNs and MD regarding the pharmacist expanded roles is to drastically change pharmacy curriculum by including the health assessment & diagnosis courses in pharmacy school. eg, including courses in PA or NP curriculum into pharmacy. Expand pharmacy school to 8 years 😀 so that we can claim that we can also diagnose and independently prescribe drugs. This can be done in less time if we are all willing to sacrifice our summers to take these courses.

Try going to pharmacy school longer than a month before suggesting something like that. 😉

 

[eson]

I sure hope not.

Being 72 years old, going back to school to do something useless doesn't sound too fun. But given the fact that I will be making 6 figures and be single, I hope the babes I get after graduating pharm school will more than make up for it.

 

[Priapism321]

I sure hope not.

Being 72 years old, going back to school to do something useless doesn't sound too fun. But given the fact that I will be making 6 figures and be single, I hope the babes I get after graduating pharm school will more than make up for it.

Two months ago you were 28 years old and going to dental school, what happened?

 

[medicalCPA]

Two months ago you were 28 years old and going to dental school, what happened?

At some point, he morphed into a 72 yr old troll.