Floater or staff pharmacist?

[smoothie567]

Hi everyone, I graduated in May and I have been working as a floater for about 3 weeks. My DM offered me a staff pharmacist position at a pharmacy that is one and a half hour away from where I live. He mentioned that the script volume is about 250 at that pharmacy. I talked to a tech from that store and she said the pharmacy can be insanely busy. I have to move if I take that position, and the company will provide me with relocation assistance. Right now I don't feel like accepting the staff pharmacist position at that pharmacy based on what the tech told me. And I don't feel like moving to a new place since I just moved to my current place two months ago...But I worry that if I turn down this opportunity, I will be a floater forever. I don't know what to do...

Also, what is the difference between a floater and a staff pharmacist? I have been reading threads on sdn. Some people prefer working as a floater and other people prefer getting their own stores...any answer to my questions will be appreciated. Thank you so much!

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[toledoray7]

The only difference is that a floater "floats" and a staff pharmacist works all his/her hours at mainly one location.

This is really a personal decision. Unless your DM is unreasonable I think it is perfectly ok to say that you don't want to move and would like to wait for something closer to open up. I, myself, wanted to get a staff position ASAP as I want to be a manager in the near future.

 

[mikejones123]

maybe times have changed.....but I was never given an option to be a floater when I graduated.....they gave me a staff position the day after I was licensed.....floating maybe better, because you don't want to be stuck in a bad store with a horrible staff and/or terrible pharmacy manager

 

[pillpharmer14]

maybe times have changed.....but I was never given an option to be a floater when I graduated.....they gave me a staff position the day after I was licensed.....floating maybe better, because you don't want to be stuck in a bad store with a horrible staff and/or terrible pharmacy manager

Excellent points but I think ultimately it's a personal decision. I preferred staff when I was with CVS because of the predictable schedule. Hard to travel or make plans when you only find out your schedule 1-2 months in advance, but like I said that depends on your lifestyle. I've also dealt with terrible PIC, but in the end doing your job and his is a good way to learn alot about the PIC duties. It will also help you impress your Sup by knowing the ins and outs if PIC is something you want.

My experience was with CVS, so take this with a grain of salt, but here are some things I learned about these kinds of offers:
1. If the Sup told you 250/day, I would guess its closer to 300/day. They are notorious for underselling volume to make stores sound attractive.
2. It never hurts to let your Sup know if you have a particular store in mind. Probably won't save you from moving now, but in case he gets a spot at that store he may consider you.
3. If you turn this down, it in no way will keep you from becoming staff in the future PROVIDED you are good at your job. There is no incentive for Supervisors to hold grudges against pharmacists. Most of them know that in order to run a good district (and make that big bonus) they need to retain their good pharmacists. It just doesn't make any sense to run off the good ones.

 

[Sine Cura]

Depending on your district, there can be a lot of turnover so you might not end up being a floater for that long. Your being offered a staff position after 3 weeks already may indicate that this is the case in your district and that your DM has no leverage to do jack to you if you refuse. In my experience DMs or rx supervisors will try to sucker their people into taking jobs at ****ty stores because they have no other easy options.

There is no upside to taking this staff position. If you take this job and flounder, you won't be happy or be even more unhappy (and you had to move just to endure greater misery). If you do well, you are stuck there unless you attempt to transfer out of state or quit. At least if you continue as a floater you can see what makes some stores good and some stores not so good (a pharmacy being insanely busy can be a function of staff training or ability and customer base) and get a sense of what store you would actually like to work at in the future (taking into account whether you want to relocate), keeping your options open.