As a pharmacist, how strict are you/will you be?
Started by ethyl
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I'll probably be lazy and make somebody else decide for me.
"Lunch breaks!? We ain't got no lunch breaks. We don't need no lunch breaks! I don't have to show you any stinking lunch bags!!"
We don't need no stinkin' lunch breaks
. Well, pharmacists usually don't get them anyway.Sorry... it's getting late, I'm getting ridiculous, and I should stop while I'm ahead, aka shut up.
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Lunch breaks!? We ain't got no lunch breaks. We don't need no lunch breaks! I don't have to show you any stinking lunch bags!!"
We don't need no stinkin' lunch breaks
Sorry... it's getting late, I'm getting ridiculous, and I should stop while I'm ahead, aka shut up.
Aint no vegan food that's suitable for lunch...
we need to find you a new job..
I don't plan on working retail so closing the pharmacy down for lunch break/code browns isn't an issue.
At my hospital, I'm about 70/30...i'll eat at the desk most of the time, but on weekends i'll go out and get food or eat out. Bull sessions in the caf are always really nice, but I don't think I could do it everyday without turning into a gossip queen.
I've also learned a lot of what not to do...like going to the mall for a couple hours on black friday without anyone covering for you...at my work there are habitual line steppers and by the book always there, never anything in between. I hope to become in between, but obviously less linestepping and less egregious behavior...
At my hospital, I'm about 70/30...i'll eat at the desk most of the time, but on weekends i'll go out and get food or eat out. Bull sessions in the caf are always really nice, but I don't think I could do it everyday without turning into a gossip queen.
I've also learned a lot of what not to do...like going to the mall for a couple hours on black friday without anyone covering for you...at my work there are habitual line steppers and by the book always there, never anything in between. I hope to become in between, but obviously less linestepping and less egregious behavior...
Tell me about it! I've had to search my pharmacy high and low for stuff to eat. I usually have to settle for Clif bars and plain Baked Lays. One day I bought a bag of BBQ Baked Lays thinking it was ok. IT WASN'T OK. The BBQ Baked Lays have chicken fat and egg yokes. I was really POed, because the regular Lays are "accidentally vegan"- they're technically animal free.Aint no vegan food that's suitable for lunch...
I know all of the bad(tasty) animal free foods 😀. Winn-Dixie makes really good fudge graham crackers.
Eating a carrot is barbaric. Harvesting the root like that kills the plant....
Never made fun of a vegan before....interesting experience.
Never made fun of a vegan before....interesting experience.
Florida law says that you don't close the pharmacy for bathroom breaks, lunch, helping customers, etc. because you are still in the building. Nothing can be verified while you are out, but techs can continue to fill and work the registers. However, I work at Walgreens where we have coverage with more than one pharmacist. I sometimes go out to lunch, but I usually bring food from home and prepare it in the break room.
It's good to work at a pharmacy with >1 pharmacist on duty that day. Everyone gets a lunch break- as well there should be. Hell, doctors' offices close for lunch and have a paging service open for an hour or so. Pharmacies should be no different. There's not a pharmacy emergency that great that can't wait for lunch. And there's always an emergency room/hospital... There's nothing integral to the practice of pharmacy, itself, that doesn't allow for pharmacists to have lunch. It's more of a retail/profit motive thing...
good point! i usually eat while i work, b/c we are busy...but really nothing that's routine certainly couldn't wait till i was done...since it's a hospital, there are codes, emergencies and such, but i can put down my cheeseburger for a minute and throw together an amiodarone drip!
beyond that, most pharmacy transactions are NOT emergent...in retail it really is all about the bottom line, happy customers, etc...forget about happy employees!
I rarely eat carrots or celery.
I'm not worried about killing plants yet 😛. I've yanked up my share of summer weeds. The d*** house next door is 3/4 abandoned (only one apartment upstairs is occupied) so there's this mountainous weed that I want dead
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I rarely eat carrots or celery.
I'm not worried about killing plants yet 😛. I've yanked up my share of summer weeds. The d*** house next door is 3/4 abandoned (only one apartment upstairs is occupied) so there's this mountainous weed that I want to dead
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I don't see why a pharmacy can't just put an "out to lunch" sign at the counter for 30 minutes from noon to 12:30...it would take the guessing game out of when everyone was going to take lunch, not to mention being a little more humane for all the staff.
Perhaps this should be an APhA resolution for next year: "APhA supports lunch breaks for pharmacists and pharmacy interns and staff, within the parameters of state public health laws, and believes that they are consistent with high standards of professional practice."
That, and a solid background statement on the issue. It would be interesting to hear the dialogue.
I hate to say it - because I'm a student and haven't "been there" - but the reason a lot of retail pharmacists get treated like crap by their employees is because you do not take individual initiative and demand change.
If every grad / practicing pharmacist demanded a lunch hour in their contract it would quickly become standard as people would flock to the chains offering it, and so on.
If you think I'm a student and have no idea, that's fine, but the same people I see complaining endlessly about "I didn't even get a chance to use the washroom" seem to be quite cowardly when dealing with superiors in the sense of demanding healthy working conditions. You're pharmacists for gods sake, cite some studies that show how neurons need glucose, thus you need lunch. It's great to bend over backwards to help people out, but it seems a lot of people need to stop bending over period.
If every grad / practicing pharmacist demanded a lunch hour in their contract it would quickly become standard as people would flock to the chains offering it, and so on.
If you think I'm a student and have no idea, that's fine, but the same people I see complaining endlessly about "I didn't even get a chance to use the washroom" seem to be quite cowardly when dealing with superiors in the sense of demanding healthy working conditions. You're pharmacists for gods sake, cite some studies that show how neurons need glucose, thus you need lunch. It's great to bend over backwards to help people out, but it seems a lot of people need to stop bending over period.
I'm known to be a stringently by-the-book pharmacist, but I've relaxed over the years.
I think most pharmacists when they get licensed are strict. When they have a chance to explore their professional boundaries, then they develop into their future personalities.
I think most pharmacists when they get licensed are strict. When they have a chance to explore their professional boundaries, then they develop into their future personalities.
I agree with this. I will be negotiating my working conditions when I graduate. I've seen and heard some pretty horrifying things this summer. My conditions will be in writing and both my employer and I will comply. I have a feeling I'm going to be kind of a hard-ass pharmacist.
One of the perks of working for Target! We are closed daily from 1:30 to 2 pm, even on weekends. 👍
I took a 15 minute lunch today in the break room and all I did was worry about the "customers". Im gonna start to take breaks everyday regardless of how busy I am. I am sick and tired of going 12 hours straight. I now leave the pharmacy b/c everytime I go to drink or take a bite, a consult walks up or a doctor is on the phone or whatever. No more...i could give a damn what corporate thinks...Im sure my CEO eats caviar(sp?) and drinks champagne on his private jet every day...Well darnit, im gonna eat my Devils ham sandwich and drink my pineapple juice...and put my mind at ease for 30 minutes.
I am not very strict, as I have learned to chill. I am strict on controls. I have a 2 day early policy but then I have people coming in 2 days early every month! Sooner or later they have a stock pile somewhere! Oxycontin and "Roxi" are early every month! Its a never ending battle! Other than controls, I am pretty laid back.
I wish CVS and Walgreens would follow. There is nothing that says we cant take a break I believe.
- great idea! Thanks!Thankfully - pharmacists in CA are specifically identified in the CA Labor Laws as being REQUIRED to have a lunch break. The pharmacist can either close the pharmacy or leave a technician, at the discretion of the PHARMACIST (each individual pharmacist can decide - its not a corporate decision)! No new rx may be dispensed, but refills can be given out by the tech.
The pharmacist can waiver this lunch break - WHO WOULD DO THAT???? None that I know of.
The employer will be fined (& is fined) for violations (in exess of thousands of dollars) for violations.
This law was passed about 5 years ago - WITHOUT the support of ASHP, CSHP, APhA, CPhA - who, btw actively fought AGAINST it & are all in line with corporations & hospitals who benefit from "flexible" scheduling of pharmacists - which translates into - get a lunch or go to the bathroom when time permits.
We are the ONLY state in the US with this in place, to my knowledge & it was a hard & long fight to get it there. But - the fact remains & is widely documented - your error rate increases dramatically with longer, uninterrupted hours & poor health related issues (ie - hunger, exhaustion, etc).
Its amazing - prescribers & patients both are astounded we did not get lunches until a law had to be passed & I've had absoutely NO complaints.
In hospitals, the coverage is overlapped. When I work retail - I've done both - close the pharmacy & leave a tech, if I trust the tech! If I don't trust the tech - we both leave at the same time & I close.
EASY!
The pharmacist can waiver this lunch break - WHO WOULD DO THAT???? None that I know of.
The employer will be fined (& is fined) for violations (in exess of thousands of dollars) for violations.
This law was passed about 5 years ago - WITHOUT the support of ASHP, CSHP, APhA, CPhA - who, btw actively fought AGAINST it & are all in line with corporations & hospitals who benefit from "flexible" scheduling of pharmacists - which translates into - get a lunch or go to the bathroom when time permits.
We are the ONLY state in the US with this in place, to my knowledge & it was a hard & long fight to get it there. But - the fact remains & is widely documented - your error rate increases dramatically with longer, uninterrupted hours & poor health related issues (ie - hunger, exhaustion, etc).
Its amazing - prescribers & patients both are astounded we did not get lunches until a law had to be passed & I've had absoutely NO complaints.
In hospitals, the coverage is overlapped. When I work retail - I've done both - close the pharmacy & leave a tech, if I trust the tech! If I don't trust the tech - we both leave at the same time & I close.
EASY!
off topic, but....I found a grammar error on this very thread 😱
Our pharmacy was down all day today. We are getting remodeled and the IT guys somehow messed up our server and we have no phones. However, I think people are able to leave their refills on the automated system and I'm sure they will fill up the queqe whenever the phone lines come up. I'm guessing about 70 scripts are on voice mail and 70 faxes too. I'm kind of scared for tomorrow. The IT guy working on it said he was too tired and he was more harm than good. I was hoping to get caught up tonight. Luckily, we do have one work station up. If it is just that 1 work station tomorrow, we will get killed. We normally do 350 a day. Tomorrow is going to be a no lunch break day. Have any suggestions?
- I think you meant typo. I fixed it!
Thank you for the constructive criticism. I try to use my poetic license sparingly 😉.
If you don't have time for a lunch break, have food delivered through your drive-through.
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I hope everything is going ok. Let us know how bad it was when you get back. My ears are open to any necessary venting.
Take care of your regular customers. I probably wouldn't accept any waiters unless is was a true emergency. If there are any pharmacies near you, perhaps you can have them helpout by sending business their way (assuming it is the same chain). Clean the queue one by one, retrieve voicemails and put them in for tomorrow. There should be 2 pharmacists there in order to clean the mess up. I would just take care of my regulars and apologize to pts who wanted to wait and ask them to come back tomorrow. Any Narcotics, unless they were from the emergency room, would be finished for tomorrow. Patients usually have a few tablets left that they may return the next day. This seems like an extreme situation so it my call for extreme measures. Again, just apologize and do one rx at a time. Good luck.
i plan to be an anal SOB. 😀
Nothing wrong with that. You've work hard, why not protect that license?
Well, fortunately we didn't have too many people upset. The main problem now is we still do not have a fax machine. We were able to clear out voice mail (we had 35 on it). We filled no scripts on Wednesday. Finally at noon today, we were finally able to bill insurance. By 2:30, we cleaned out voice mail. Then at 5 pm, the IT guys decided for us to not be able to bill any insurances. So, it was price modifying and then rebill it later this week.
I'm grateful for the understanding customers we had. I'm also glad we had 3 pharmacists there. We only had 1 rergister working most the time too. Well, there should only be 2 more days of this, but I feel like it will take a while to get used to.
Is there anyway for corporate to change the main menu message to let customers know that you are under construction and may not pick up the phone? Some people told me they were on hold for a hour. How long would it take you before you hung up?
I'm grateful for the understanding customers we had. I'm also glad we had 3 pharmacists there. We only had 1 rergister working most the time too. Well, there should only be 2 more days of this, but I feel like it will take a while to get used to.
Is there anyway for corporate to change the main menu message to let customers know that you are under construction and may not pick up the phone? Some people told me they were on hold for a hour. How long would it take you before you hung up?
Well said. The problem with common sense is it's uncommon.
I like the pharmacists who say C-II prescriptions must be filled within 72 hours of being written. There is nothing like this in the controlled substances act or in the Pennsylvania Code. We don't have enough rules, now we have to invent more.....
Who said that? That is ridiculous.Maybe they meant the partial filling of CII's? In NY is it 30 days, or at least that was the law 3 years ago.
Or maybe teach them an exercise to strengthen their urethral/detrusor muscle to extend the range of their urine stream so 3 ft wouldn't be a problem.....
bethanechol anyone? =)
thanks for the advice, but i'm a chick...so i dont think i can do that, bethanecol or not.
though my dad can write his name in the snow...and can write "anthony" not just "tony"
New Jersey pharmacists get 30 minutes lunch break - you post a sign "pharmacist on lunch" and you aren't bothered unless someone needs a consult urgently. 🙂
Otherwise, I am a strict pharmacist. My princicple "No manners - no service". If someone is nice, I will bend the rules for them. If someone attemps pullling some entitlement bitch tricks on me, I will send them packing. I am years beyond trying to please people - and that's why I always got 10 times less crap than my coworkers. 😀
Sounds just like me. You do what you can, but you'll never make 'em all happy.
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