hard to be accurate

[Lisochka]

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it is so hard for me to be accurate. I feel like I make waaaay more mistakes when there is a high volume of prescriptions and I am in a hurry to get them in. How to train yourself to make less mistakes? Sometimes I have to make myself to concentrate, it requires a physical effort, sort of like I am lifting weight... only not my hands but my brain does it. But I can physically feel it. It is weird. it is a physicall effort for me to make myself to concentrate...
I am in my last year of school, I am scared.... I want to train myself to make less mistakes. how?

 

[sakigt]

The way Ive done it (and trained others to think the same way) is assume you make mistakes all the time. Set up your workflow so that you do the same thing, the same way, everytime.

I dont have any community Pharmacist related ideas but when I was a lab tech when we relabeled specimens I taught people to put the label slightly below the other one....if you mislabel its easier to notice...and even if you dont catch the mistake its easier for someone else to. As an IV tech, everytime I push a med into a bag I flip the bag....just helps me keep track of what Im doing.

 

[DRxUGS]

Assume there is an error with every single thing you check.

 

[Lisochka]

Assume there is an error with every single thing you check.

what if it will slow me down so much that my pharmacist will be made that I am not able to handle the work load...
Do you think acuracy but being slow is better? of do you think few mistakes here and there are better but at least you are being able to handle a big volume of prescriptions?

 

[EBT12]

what if it will slow me down so much that my pharmacist will be made that I am not able to handle the work load...
Do you think acuracy but being slow is better? of do you think few mistakes here and there are better but at least you are being able to handle a big volume of prescriptions?

Mistakes can seriously harm and kill patients. Everyone needs their medications, but working faster than you are safely able to will eventually harm a patient (and lead to serious repercussions for you). It is much better to slow down and catch mistakes than to harm patients.

 

[owlegrad]

I am sure your pharmacist will not be mad that you only go as fast as you are safely able to. Safety first. 👍

 

[DRxUGS]

what if it will slow me down so much that my pharmacist will be made that I am not able to handle the work load...
Do you think acuracy but being slow is better? of do you think few mistakes here and there are better but at least you are being able to handle a big volume of prescriptions?

You'll get better and quicker at it as you go along. But patient safety ALWAYS comes first.

If you feel you are being pressured to do something faster than you feel comfortable, say so. It's YOUR license you're risking.

 

[WhiteSnows]

Another thing you can do is focus on what you are doing, stop reduce unnecessary conversation with other techs. Also, sleep enough before go to work.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Make a mental checklist of things to go over after you type each script. i.e. what i typically try to do is check that each of the following matches the backtag:

• Name and DOB
• Drug, strength, and directions
• Refills, Prescriber

If you're unsure of anything, DON'T be afraid to ask your Pharmacist. I can't speak from experience, but I'd much rather have a tech bug me for a five second question than catch a mistake that has to be re-billed and relabeled because they were too afraid to ask.

 

[Praziquantel86]

Once you have a system, do everything the same way every time. You'll develop a mental checklist of what needs to get done with each prescription/order/IV, so that way, even when you get interrupted, you can hop right back into the flow. It doesn't have to be any set way, just make sure everything gets done and gets done right.

Also, don't let people pressure you into working faster than you're comfortable with. The comfort level, as I'm learning now, comes with time and experience. It will get better, it will get easier. Just give it time.

 

[Lisochka]

thank you so much! I really appreciate your help!

 

[OptimistPrime]

you could try circling each detail with a pen, i've seen many pharmacists do this. i also heard males completely zone out for 3-5 seconds every minute so maybe that's happening to you.

 

[Dr Wario]

Something I find that helps me a lot with verification is having the techs write the pts birthday on every script. This helps me to check more quickly and accurately because I find it much more difficult to misinterpret a number than a name.

 

[Lisochka]

thank you guys

 

[JonPrePharmD]

you could try circling each detail with a pen, i've seen many pharmacists do this. i also heard males completely zone out for 3-5 seconds every minute so maybe that's happening to you.

haha seriously? So that's why...

 

[RxMTM]

Work at store with low volume. Or get evaluated for adderall

 

[kvl1027]

Just like everyone else says, come up with a method that suites you and stick to it. Learn to check a script the same way every time.

If you are not able to speed up and you find that your pace is slower than what your job is demanding, you may want to look into transfering into a slower pharmacy.

You dont want to push yourself beyond what you are capable of, someone may die or get hurt.

Good Luck.

 

[Lisochka]

Just like everyone else says, come up with a method that suites you and stick to it. Learn to check a script the same way every time.

If you are not able to speed up and you find that your pace is slower than what your job is demanding, you may want to look into transfering into a slower pharmacy.

You dont want to push yourself beyond what you are capable of, someone may die or get hurt.

Good Luck.

that is so true!
I am actually working in two hospitals as an intern. In one hospital- it is a zoo, carzy busy, nurses are calling non-stop, orders are piling up, relationship between staff is crapy, and I make mistakes. The other hospital where I work is,very slow- I am doing fine. And the system is better than in the first hospital. A lot of build in sets, where you just pick a drug and it comes up with a route, sig and dose, and you are just safer there because of that system.
I actually was thinking that may be I do have ADHD, but I don't wanna be on Adderal for the next 20 years.
I think you are right, the key is, once I graduate is to find a place where the work load is slow and there is less of repetitive tasks. Sort of like my second hospital where I work now, the nicer one.

 

[kvl1027]

You'll be fine, just never underestimate the power of coffee. I recommend the etheopian yirgacheffe.

 

[clachan3]

I am sure your pharmacist will not be made that you only go as fast as you are safely able to. Safety first. 👍

My partner who has been a pharmacist for 30 years thought I was way too slow as a new grad. She thought I was supposed to be fast because what I learned should be fresh in my mind. I guess she forgot that new grads tends to be more careful. I check everything at least twice for new scripts and I check first or 2nd refill like a new prescription just in case someone missed something on it.

I learned to be quicker by just checking a lot of prescriptions. I was checking about about 150 or more rx an 8-hr day. So that adds up to about 36,000 scripts per year, and I did that for the past 3 years. I remember on the new cvs system it took only a few seconds to check a refill. New scripts I still check at least twice, longer for more complicated/drug interactions. I will just take as long as I need, and complete it at a reasonable pace.

There is no reason that you should feel pressured to okay a prescription when you don't feel that you have checked the prescription as thoroughly as you need. I remember my first week as a pharmacist, I told the patient at the drive-up that I could not give her her medication because it was labeled incorrectly. I told her that I needed time to fix it, otherwise she wouldn't get any medication at all.

 

[Lisochka]

thank you guys!

 

[PharmGirl31]

thanks for the advice everyone! am a new grad pharmacist myself too, so am a bit nervous about starting work and being slow and making mistakes. I guess we could say as a pharmacist, Never Assume Anything!

 

[lorain]

despite working at 500 a day store, i always doubled checked the prescription during the product verification step

it takes 5-10 secs to make sure i got right drug strength and quantity.

 

[Sarapary]

How do you concentrate the whole day? I find myself just staring at the screen and not doing anything for few seconds when I get overwhelmed...and I have a tendency to double and triple check everything and that makes my speed not as fast as I want.

 

[MountainPharmD]

it is so hard for me to be accurate. I feel like I make waaaay more mistakes when there is a high volume of prescriptions and I am in a hurry to get them in. ?

There is your first mistake. Undue haste makes waste. Your first priority is to been accurate. Does it really matter how fast you get things done if half of it is wrong? If you do not have time to do it right the first time do you have time to do it over again? Accuracy should be there from day 1. Speed comes from experience and being comfortable with what you are doing.

How to train yourself to make less mistakes? Sometimes I have to make myself to concentrate, it requires a physical effort, sort of like I am lifting weight... only not my hands but my brain does it. But I can physically feel it. It is weird. it is a physicall effort for me to make myself to concentrate...
I am in my last year of school, I am scared.... I want to train myself to make less mistakes. how?

You start off focusing on accuracy and coming up with a way of doing things that is repeatable. Do it the same way every time which leads to you being comfortable. The more comfortable you get the more your speed and efficiency improve. If you start off flustered and try to be fast you are destined for failure.