New Pharmacist

[JordanP]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hello Everyone!

I became licensed last week and will be working my first shift this week (after 2 days with another pharmacist). Ofcaurse I was thrilled that I passed the Naplex and all that and celebrated to the full! lol but now I'm starting to freak out a little 😱

If any pharmacists have ANY advice about ANYthing (techs, volume, verifying, watching out for mistakes, controlls, peds dosing) anything...please provide some...I've been in retail for a while...but we all know that being the intern and being the pharmacist is 2 different things.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Pharmguy07]

Take your time and don't let getting backed up force you to go any faster than what's safe. It's better to have people angry because they had to wait an extra 5 minutes rather than because you screwed up the prescription.

 

[ucrx]

Develop a system for checking prescriptions, and make sure you do each step on all prescriptions.

Don't consider yourself above taking care of the pharmacy or answering the phones. Yes, you can have people assigned to do these things, but if they're busy and you're not you can still help.

 

[Smartylittle]

When I first became a pharmacist it was pretty nerve-wrecking for me also especially when it came to verifying DURs. I used to always spend time researching the interactions and only if I felt comfortable would I over-ride it. So, the key is to verify/override something only if you feel comfortable. If you don't feel comfortable, you can always call the physician and document everything before you verify it. With time, you will feel more comfortable but in the meantime its better to be a little slow then make a fatal mistake.

 

[Pill-Counter]

Every new RPh is entitled to few errors, even your DM knows this so relax this is your chance you either use it or loose it.

 

[owlegrad]

Every new RPh is entitled to few errors, even your DM knows this so relax this is your chance you either use it or loose it.

Interesting perspective. So either make the mistakes now or not at all?

 

[Aznfarmerboi]

Also, remember that you always have a support team. It can be your mentor while you were an intern, your pharmacy supervisor, or you can even go to your lead tech. 👍

 

[J ROD]

Relax...breath....everything will be ok.

🙂

Fill...bill....repeat.

 

[JordanP]

thanks for all the advice guys lol..well i just worked 2 14 hours shifts back to back and I am feeling exhausted...I am at a really busy store and there are alot of things piling up all the time...but i am trying to go at my best pace and if i see a DUR that I dont like i make sure to call the patient and/or doctor and tell them about it.

I am especially nervous with the antibiotics and kids...they seem to be all over the place with the dosing...

Still nerve recking lol...but i'm trying to take it one Rx at a time.

 

[Allure]

You're not working for CVS, are you? I don't know..every time I hear 14-hour shift, I think of CVS..lol..A lot of interactions are not even really interactions. A few things I pay attention to is when I see a new script for synthroid, I always check the profile to make sure that the patient didn't get brand last time. This mistake happens more often that it should. Same thing with Metoprolol. Make sure it's tartrate and not succinate or vice versa. So how do you like your job so far? How long do you think you can last there? lol Maybe it's too soon to say

 

[J ROD]

Yeah, dont worry so much. Most interactions are overrated!!