So I'm working as a floater in Florida, at a store this past weekend which went well by myself, then today (Monday) when I arrive at 9 then there's an "intern" who shows up at 10:30. Background first: I just started with the company a couple months back but have been a pharmacist for almost a decade so I've been around the block a little at least. I briefly met this intern when I went through a couple days of training at this store around the time I started, just learning the computer system, etc. The pharmacy manager explained to me that the intern moved here from Cuba where she went to pharmacy school. She could not pass the test to get licensed here on her allowed 3 times so she just works as a perpetual intern. My first question is why in the world does a pharmacist intern license in Florida not expire? They all clearly say "DOES NOT EXPIRE." So someone can get an intern license at age 20, not graduate or graduate and not pass the board exams, get a job like this as an intern, and still be working there 40 years later as an intern without doing any CE? Technicians even now have to do CE but these interns don't?
So shortly after she arrives I'm on the phone with a customer who wants a refill on a medication I see is out of stock. Since our daily order had arrived but hasn't been checked in yet I go back and start opening the delivery cases to see if the drug is there. The intern comes back and starts shouting at me "Do not open the cases, I will do it, you will get it all disorganized, I have my own way of doing it!" I try to cut in and explain that I am simply looking for one drug but am unable to get the words out. As this infuriates me, I simply walk away to avoid a big argument in the pharmacy, and tell the customer that I will call them back when I have a chance to check on this. Probably not the right decision, but I didn't want the conflict. Question 2 - how should I have handled this? In part I was shocked because I have been treated so respectfully and politely at all other stores I have worked at since starting and strive to treat all of my customers and coworkers the same way.
The pharmacy manager at this store is ready to retire and really doesn't care IMO. He even told me that he trusts this lady so much that he never reviews the prescriptions she fills. I still think I will start a dialogue with him about this situation when he returns from vacation (I'm covering his vacation) because I, or other floaters, should not be talked to like this. Another issue is that she speaks Spanish and many of the customers speak Spanish and little English. I do not speak Spanish. I get the idea that she is counseling patients in Spanish. How can I supervise this when I do not speak this language? At one point today the store manager came back referencing a conversation she had with a customer who ended up complaining to him at the front of the store and it was clear that the topic of her conversation with the customer (in Spanish) should have involved the professional judgment of a pharmacist.
I appreciate any input.
So shortly after she arrives I'm on the phone with a customer who wants a refill on a medication I see is out of stock. Since our daily order had arrived but hasn't been checked in yet I go back and start opening the delivery cases to see if the drug is there. The intern comes back and starts shouting at me "Do not open the cases, I will do it, you will get it all disorganized, I have my own way of doing it!" I try to cut in and explain that I am simply looking for one drug but am unable to get the words out. As this infuriates me, I simply walk away to avoid a big argument in the pharmacy, and tell the customer that I will call them back when I have a chance to check on this. Probably not the right decision, but I didn't want the conflict. Question 2 - how should I have handled this? In part I was shocked because I have been treated so respectfully and politely at all other stores I have worked at since starting and strive to treat all of my customers and coworkers the same way.
The pharmacy manager at this store is ready to retire and really doesn't care IMO. He even told me that he trusts this lady so much that he never reviews the prescriptions she fills. I still think I will start a dialogue with him about this situation when he returns from vacation (I'm covering his vacation) because I, or other floaters, should not be talked to like this. Another issue is that she speaks Spanish and many of the customers speak Spanish and little English. I do not speak Spanish. I get the idea that she is counseling patients in Spanish. How can I supervise this when I do not speak this language? At one point today the store manager came back referencing a conversation she had with a customer who ended up complaining to him at the front of the store and it was clear that the topic of her conversation with the customer (in Spanish) should have involved the professional judgment of a pharmacist.
I appreciate any input.
Its about pharmacists that do not speak a word in Spanish and still work down here in South Florida (or any other area where Spanish is used a lot). What do you usually do when someone who cannot speak English shows up in your pharmacy? Just let the Spanish speaking techs take over?