disciplining a tech?

[espressobean1]

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I work as a staff pharmacist and have had issues feeling respected by one of the technicians. She seems to take advantage of the fact that I am new and doesn't seem to care about helping out in the pharmacy when I am in charge. Recently heard that she commented about how I graduated from a diploma pill and anyone can be a pharmacist these days (I graduated from a new pharmacy school). I would like to have her terminated but she has more experience with the company and is part of an union. I also think she has a pretty solid relationship with the pharmacy manager. I have put up with a lot of bad techs (call offs, lateness, constant breaks, etc.) but this one is the worst in the way she insulted me personally behind my back.
Any advice on what to do with this tech? I have heard union techs are difficult to fire but wanted to hear your experiences with disciplining techs when it is your word versus their word.

 

[deleted480308]

You want someone fired over a second hand report of a comment about your school's quality?

You will need to adjust a bit to the realities of real world life, people don't get fired over those types of things, it's annoying that they are a hassle to you but they are staying

 

[PhunwithPharm]

In all honesty, you are just going to have to suck it up. Some pharm techs (who have worked years as a tech and it is their career) have a chip on their shoulder. Don't be insecure with your education.
Actions speak louder than words. Don't let people's words define you, let your actions define you. Just prove to everyone (and yourself) that you do know your stuff and the education you got was great. If she continually does not help you when you are at the pharmacy, sit her down and talk to her about her performance. If she does not still help, then you can tell the pharmacy manager about her performance problems. People are ALWAYS going to talk behind each other's back at work, that is just part of any job sadly. You are just going to have to let that go and become more confident in yourself.

 

[Dr Wario]

If anyone can become a pharmacist and the job is so easy, why doesn't she do it? Always remember, you are the person in charge and the heart of the pharmacy. If you walk out of the pharmacy, by law, the pharmacy must close, what happens if she walks out? This is not to give you a big ego, but to remind you that you are the manager when you are there, so do your job.

 

[clachan3]

I work as a staff pharmacist and have had issues feeling respected by one of the technicians. She seems to take advantage of the fact that I am new and doesn't seem to care about helping out in the pharmacy when I am in charge. Recently heard that she commented about how I graduated from a diploma pill and anyone can be a pharmacist these days (I graduated from a new pharmacy school). I would like to have her terminated but she has more experience with the company and is part of an union. I also think she has a pretty solid relationship with the pharmacy manager. I have put up with a lot of bad techs (call offs, lateness, constant breaks, etc.) but this one is the worst in the way she insulted me personally behind my back.
Any advice on what to do with this tech? I have heard union techs are difficult to fire but wanted to hear your experiences with disciplining techs when it is your word versus their word.

It sounds like this tech has gotten away with this kind of behavior before. I don't think you have the power to fire anyone as a new grad, and usually you can't terminate someone just for gossiping. I don't know how exactly unions work, but if the problem tech is the pic's friend, why don't you go to your pic's supervisor if he doesn't do anything about the situation. Or go to the store manager if he has the power to discipline the techs. You should focus on the fact that the tech is not doing her job, not that she has been gossiping.

If that doesn't work, I would just ask not to be scheduled to work with her. If your pic asks why, just be honest, tell him that the tech is still not doing her job (the truth) after you've already talked to the tech about it and tried to work with her.

When you are pharmacist on duty, you are in charge. I work just as hard as my techs, but I also give them directions. You can simply tell her (politely/professionally) that she needs to go help that patient at the counter if everyone else is busy. Keep everything professional, it is not a time to give anyone attitude, basically just pretend nothing was happening behind your back.

Being a new grad is hard, even more so these days. I'd say focus on your work, that is what I did when I first graduated. I never talked about anything that wasn't work related at work. Do your job extremely well, and gain everyone else's respect, then other people will be on your side. I don't believe in talking behind people's backs, actually that was one of my previous pic's problem.

If someone is doing this to me after being a pharmacist for six years, and clearly interrupting the workflow on purpose, I would ask talk to her in private. The bottom line is I am here to do my job, you need to do yours. If you have a problem with me personally, you need to talk to me directly, don't talk behind my back. I also made a personal rule, if a tech is standing around and refuses to work when it is busy, I'd ask if she would like to go home early. If two techs are chitchatting, I'd ask one of them to go home early, because I don't need anyone there who is not working.

 

[PharmerC]

Give it some time. Once you are able to prove yourself you will eventually gain respect. If that doesn't work, print out a copy of my avatar and hand it to them. Some techs will just be jealous of what you have accomplished. If anyone can be a pharmacist these days, then surely the tech in question should sign up for pharmacy school. Just let them blow smoke

 

[Hello2000]

Very common situation, I do per diems, sometimes you get nice tech's sometime you get smart a$$ ones who are jealous of you and try to boss and bully you around. I casually ask to speak to them in private and simply say "Do we have a problem here?", usually ends up with some immediate a$$ sucking, perfect manners and sometimes a break down and often tears. That's the distinguishing factor about bullies, they like to give it out but they simply can't take it if someone questions them. That simple question I ask is enough to resolve any tech problems.

 

[BMBiology]

Recently heard that she commented about how I graduated from a diploma pill and anyone can be a pharmacist these days (I graduated from a new pharmacy school).

There is some truth to this...have you visited the pre-pharmacy forum lately? You can get into multiple schools with a 2.5 GPA. You can also retake any classes at a community college to "boost" your GPA. Pharmacy schools are desperate for students and their tuition money. So yes, your tech has a valid point.

 

[rph3664]

Over the years, I have worked with techs who refused to tube stat Anzemet orders "because I'm too busy", referred to black people using the N word, said, "Make me, bitch" when I asked them to do something, deliberately filled carts with all the wrong drugs and then refused to do it over, etc. and there wasn't anything I, or anyone else, could do about it. No, they weren't union, and they weren't part of any protected class nor were they related to anyone important (that I know of).

Every place you work is going to have That Person, or worse yet, Those People, who don't have to follow the rules and can get away with pretty much anything. If you confront this person and nothing happens, and follow the chain of command and nothing happens, you may have to look for another job. 🙁 It's not worth putting your license on the line if you're working with people who create an unsafe working environment.

 

[trailerpark]

How many people really get into pharm school with a 2.5? Out of curiosity I asked a bunch of my classmates and I had the lowest gpa with a 3.5. Maybe because I go to a 3yr program so they emphasize gpa more so you can get through an accelerated program, but I doubt most have sub 3.0 gpa and I know plenty of people who have retook classes for pharm, dental, medical etc... to boost their chances of admittance. And most schools are desperate for money. Nothing new here.

 

[MountainPharmD]

I work as a staff pharmacist and have had issues feeling respected by one of the technicians. She seems to take advantage of the fact that I am new and doesn't seem to care about helping out in the pharmacy when I am in charge. Recently heard that she commented about how I graduated from a diploma pill and anyone can be a pharmacist these days (I graduated from a new pharmacy school). I would like to have her terminated but she has more experience with the company and is part of an union. I also think she has a pretty solid relationship with the pharmacy manager. I have put up with a lot of bad techs (call offs, lateness, constant breaks, etc.) but this one is the worst in the way she insulted me personally behind my back.
Any advice on what to do with this tech? I have heard union techs are difficult to fire but wanted to hear your experiences with disciplining techs when it is your word versus their word.

If you're going to survive in retail you better get thicker skin. If the tech is truely not doing her job when you are on duty then write her up. Familarize yourself with the companies progressive disipline policy and pick up a copy of the union handbook. Take the emotion out of it. Since your not the pharmacy manager you have zero chance of playing a role in firing this tech. Your write ups will have to go through the pharmacy manager. A good first step is to talk with her.

Respect is not something automatically bestowed upon you at graduation. You earn it. Doesn't matter if it's a tech, pharmacist or customer.

 

[BMBiology]

How many people really get into pharm school with a 2.5? Out of curiosity I asked a bunch of my classmates and I had the lowest gpa with a 3.5.

3.5 GPA, hard working and good looking? What are YOU doing in pharmacy school?

 

[WVUPharm2007]

Respect is not something automatically bestowed upon you at graduation. You earn it. Doesn't matter if it's a tech, pharmacist or customer.

While this is true, disrespect is something that should be earned, too. Coming at it out of the box like that is just bitchy...

 

[Jibby321]

How many people really get into pharm school with a 2.5? Out of curiosity I asked a bunch of my classmates and I had the lowest gpa with a 3.5. Maybe because I go to a 3yr program so they emphasize gpa more so you can get through an accelerated program, but I doubt most have sub 3.0 gpa and I know plenty of people who have retook classes for pharm, dental, medical etc... to boost their chances of admittance. And most schools are desperate for money. Nothing new here.

Avg admitted GPA at my school was a 3.5 for this pass entering year. You'll have a hard time getting into any well established state school with a 2.5. But there are plenty of private schools who will take 2.5 and -30th percentile on PCAT.

 

[Sparda29]

While you can't fire them, you can make their life miserable by giving them tedious tasks like fronting the bottles, checking for expires, sorting out the pick-up bins and then having them written up if they don't complete those tasks.

 

[owlegrad]

So it seems to me that there are two issues going on here. One, the tech might be saying mean stuff about you behind your back. You will never stop that from happening, people talk and that is all there is to it. If someone comes to tell you what someone else said about you behind your back just tell them point blank you don't want to hear it.

Two, the tech is not doing her job. In that case bring it up with the tech first and set your expectations. If she doesn't met them, bring it up with the PIC. You will never get anywhere if the PIC doesn't have your back.

Good luck.

 

[boriqua]

the tech can talk trash about your school all he/she wants. at the end of the day, your check is still 500 dollars while his/her's is 80 dollars.

 

[Reirrac]

Focus on the tech not doing her job. Things like hearsay and gossip happen all the time and is not something you can control nor something you should get upset about. If the tech refuses to do her job then you can certainly write her up on it and move it up the chain of command as necessary.

 

[kvl1027]

Have you tried talking to her? Just politely pull her to the side and have a professional conversation with her. Make mention of her experience and how you would like to use her experience to help make some improvements in productivity and efficiency in the pharmacy. You will essentially be blowing smoke up her ass, but she will feel like you are respecting her experience. Once she is on your side, you will be able to get her to do things for you.

It will take some time and if nothing ever changes, try sneaking in the fridge and eating her lunches and then blame it on another pharmacist. If she catches you, just tell her you keep getting confused because you are not that smart, which is why you went to a diploma mill for pharmacy school.

 

[nextyearrx]

This is a good thread. A lot of techs don't realize how critical our (pharmacist's ) job is! A tech who makes mistakes makes our life more and more stressful.

I have had a tech for about 1.5 years (unfortunately) who makes A LOT OF MISTAKES all the time. I am a staff rph and the pharmacy manager knows how bad she is but she seems unresponsive!! Her performance is worsening over the time (mistakes in typing, filling, you name it)

I have experienced all these, It all depends on your luck!! YES you may get techs who knows everything and make your life a heaven.

 

[atlrph]

I vote for spanking if she's hot