Please advice on job change

[Lisochka]

Hi guys!
I need help!
Ive have been a pharmacy manager with Walgreens for the last 3 years (out of total 5 years that I have been with Walgreens). I was offered a job in a company that services long term care facilities/nursing homes.
2 issues:
1) Pay is less. At Walgreens I make 65$ per hour. At the new company it is 56$/hr...That is approximately 500$ less per bi-weekly paycheck, right?
2) The job is from 3 pm till 11 pm...I have a teenager son, so it is probably will be an issue...


My questions related to medications mainly:
1) I probably will learn more non retail aspects of pharmacy, such as dosing aminoglycosides, do IV's, etc...Right? At retail I do not deal with IV's, AG, Iv Vanco, etc...
2) When it comes to drugs, would you say it is similar to hospital type of services? Or would you say the majority of meds are more like a retail drugs?
3) Would it be easier with that experience to get into hospital jobs? Or still its far away from hospital type of work?

I guess what I am trying to ask is would the sacrifice of bad hours and much lower pay worth the skills that I will acquire?

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[Litha]

I only worked retail as an intern (never pharmacist), but I have been working as a pharmacist in LTC for the past 6 months. Maybe I can give you some insight...

My thoughts:

- I like the IV aspect. Helps to break up the day and lets you think about something else other than the regular stuff you typically see. Keeps those skills fresh (or helps to refresh them, in your case).
- I think LTC is more similar to retail than hospital. With the exception of occasional IV antibiotics, hydration, or TPN, we are providing the regular meds for patients living in assisted living or skilled nursing facilities. If the patients need something more urgent, they are going to be transported to the hospital for a few days then readmitted.
- Absolutely would help get into hospital jobs because you are regaining that IV knowledge and have a better basis on how transitions of care work. This position has done nothing if not made me realize that a good med rec pharmacist would do wonders on the inpatient side of things. We get patients admitting at all hours with med sheets that are a mess.

Other random thoughts:

- Yes there is a pay cut, but there will be significantly less stress.
- Can be kind of boring at times, or feel routine after awhile.
- Is there an on call component to this job? You will make more money from that, guaranteed. It's also the worst part of the job, unfortunately.
- Get to sit down part of the day.
- Get a real lunch hour.
- Phone isn't ringing off the hook, or the techs answer most of the time.
- Nurses are their own beast to deal with, especially the difficult ones.

Is this Omnicare? If so, I can offer more direct advice.

 

[Lnsean]

You can always go back to walgreens dude...especially if you are leaving on good terms and have been a good solid worker for 5 years. go and don't look back.

 

[M0df]

Is this the same job/offer you were asking about before?

I would have taken the other job. This one doesn't excite me too much. You can probably get more info from the interview or even from the job description on what you will be responsible for. I doubt you can get solid info here on.

 

[wagrxm2000]

3 pm to 11 pm = hell no

 

[Lisochka]

dup

 

[Lisochka]

Is this the same job/offer you were asking about before?

I would have taken the other job. This one doesn't excite me too much. You can probably get more info from the interview or even from the job description on what you will be responsible for. I doubt you can get solid info here on.

This job is different job. The other job was a PIC, Monday-Fri 7-3...But it was a contract-type...
I said no to them...Now kind of beating myself up for that...

 

[Lisochka]

3 pm to 11 pm = hell no

I guess if there is something that is worth the sacrifice then 3-11 pm is acceptable...
I am just worried that if I take the position I will get stuck in the 3-11 pm schedule for a while...

 

[quickpic007]

How large is your new organization? I would pass if it is not one of the big 2 nation wide. LTC is known for easier work but if they lose a contract you are gone. WG has better built in stability

 

[steveysmith54]

Hi guys!
I need help!
Ive have been a pharmacy manager with Walgreens for the last 3 years (out of total 5 years that I have been with Walgreens). I was offered a job in a company that services long term care facilities/nursing homes.
2 issues:
1) Pay is less. At Walgreens I make 65$ per hour. At the new company it is 56$/hr...That is approximately 500$ less per bi-weekly paycheck, right?
2) The job is from 3 pm till 11 pm...I have a teenager son, so it is probably will be an issue...


My questions related to medications mainly:
1) I probably will learn more non retail aspects of pharmacy, such as dosing aminoglycosides, do IV's, etc...Right? At retail I do not deal with IV's, AG, Iv Vanco, etc...
2) When it comes to drugs, would you say it is similar to hospital type of services? Or would you say the majority of meds are more like a retail drugs?
3) Would it be easier with that experience to get into hospital jobs? Or still its far away from hospital type of work?

I guess what I am trying to ask is would the sacrifice of bad hours and much lower pay worth the skills that I will acquire?

I would say LTC is more like retail than hospital. It does have some hospital components, of course. Problem is most hospitals choose candidates with a residency nowadays, or previous hospital experience. Having said that, I worked LTC and liked it a lot. It was well staffed, didn't have to deal with customers, i had time to text etc. If it's not a major LTC corporation, I'd would just make sure it's a stable job and solid ownership. The other component that nobody can decide for you is if you are able to do that shift and absorb the cut in pay.

 

[M0df]

You need to decide on your priorities. Is it money? stress? hours? being a PIC? To me if you have to think about too long, then you are probably not ready to move on. LTC can be extremely boring. Your hours will suck and unless you have a clear indication that can change within certain time frame, you have to look at it for what it is. And pay is less but not significantly, considering you are no longer a PIC and LTC pays less in general. Also, I do not see it as a progression to a hospital job, which seems to be your end goal.

 

[Lisochka]

Thank u guys...
The company is Pharmerica... it is not ltac itself... it's a company that services many ltacs and some hospitals...
I guess it is a big company with few offices in few states
Anybody had an experience with that company?

I don't know if my end goal is a hospital job , I think it would be nice to try something that is not retail... but I am happy at Walgreens and 3-11 pm is not that attractive ... but if I get stuck at Walgreens , soon I will forget clinical pharmacy and will turn into retail only Rph...
May be there would be an opportunity with the company to get an am job... but what if not? I can't be stuck in a 3-11 pm job for a long time... does it mean I will have to be looking for a new job in a year or so? If yes- it sucks...
But if I don't take this job then I am stuck at Walgreens ...
If I start the 3-11 pm job and work there for a year, can I put it on my resume? Would not it look weird that the period was so short?

 

[Oink]

i have a friend that worked at pharmerica as a tech/intern. From what I heard, there is more clinical compared to retail. Theyre not doing clinical stuff all the time, but once in a while during the day they get questions from nurses asking what to do with medications. Sometimes the pharmacists have to look it up and call the nurse back if they don't know the answer. A lot of their job involves verifying meds too. There is also a lottttt of meds in the pharmacy too and it's cool because you get to see more of different meds.

I also rotated at pharmerica for a little bit. It's pretty much the same with what my friend said. a lot of the pharmacists used to work at CVS/WAG/etc and said they like it here more than retail. I think I would like pharmerica too becauase its not as stressful as the busy stores of retail pharmacies. However, the only thing I would miss is the patient interaction. It's a closed door pharmacy so you're just in there verifying meds and answering phone calls all day so it may be more boring. Some pharmacists seem to get annoyed from phone call conversations with doctors and nurses. I would rather get yelled at by a patient than a doctor but thats just me. Overall, it seems way less stressful compared to a retail. Most of the pharmacists seem more relaxed. There are always those few pharmacists who gets really stressed from any type of work that gets thrown at them. It also seems more well staffed compared to retail stores.

I don't know much about the IV pharmacists though.

 

[owlegrad]

I work at PharMerica. It a good gig compared to CVS. You can sit down for pretty much as much of your shift as you want, no patients to yell at you, no drive-thru, perhaps a tenth as many phone calls. You have fellow pharmacists there with you so you don't have to do it all yourself (a blessing and a curse, but even slacker coworkers are better than none at all). We share IV and all other duties so that helps somewhat with the monotony (every facility has their own system though, personally I would be bummed to work at a facility that doesn't share the IV and other duties so YMMV naturally).

By far the worst parts of the job are having to stay late until the run goes out (for free) and being on call. God how I hate call. It is also less pay than CVS but for the difference in quality of work-life I would say it is a more than far trade.

Someone mentioned the job certainly involved with losing contracts, and that has some merit. We have lost two contracts since I started (and gained none) and each time we lose one everyone goes crazy talking about who is going to get the ax. So far there haven't been any terminations though so it is hard for me to know how seriously to take the fear-mongering. Obviously at some point we would have to have lay-offs, I just don't know what that point is. Keep in mind CVS laid-off plenty of pharmacists when they eliminated the overnight position so CVS isn't necessarily more job security.

 

[steveysmith54]

. However, the only thing I would miss is the patient interaction
.

When I was a retail RPh, I had more negative pt interactions than positive pt interaction from pts who were unhappy abt their lives, cost of health insurance, their doctors, etc. Or maybe simply bc they didn't bother to wear a condom. They tried to take it out on me... Some simply didn't recognize that they are not speaking to service clerk. I'd say ONLY 25 percent of my pt interactions were positive. So, i will never miss that aspect of pharmacist job.

 

[Rukn]

You can always go back to walgreens dude...especially if you are leaving on good terms and have been a good solid worker for 5 years. go and don't look back.

This.

In my area or market whatever they call it they allow you to come back if you leave on good terms.

 

[Lisochka]

Thank you guys...

 

[steveysmith54]

Thank you guys...

So are you going to pull the trigger this time?

 

[Lisochka]

I work at PharMerica. It a good gig compared to CVS. You can sit down for pretty much as much of your shift as you want, no patients to yell at you, no drive-thru, perhaps a tenth as many phone calls. You have fellow pharmacists there with you so you don't have to do it all yourself (a blessing and a curse, but even slacker coworkers are better than none at all). We share IV and all other duties so that helps somewhat with the monotony (every facility has their own system though, personally I would be bummed to work at a facility that doesn't share the IV and other duties so YMMV naturally).

By far the worst parts of the job are having to stay late until the run goes out (for free) and being on call. God how I hate call. It is also less pay than CVS but for the difference in quality of work-life I would say it is a more than far trade.

Someone mentioned the job certainly involved with losing contracts, and that has some merit. We have lost two contracts since I started (and gained none) and each time we lose one everyone goes crazy talking about who is going to get the ax. So far there haven't been any terminations though so it is hard for me to know how seriously to take the fear-mongering. Obviously at some point we would have to have lay-offs, I just don't know what that point is. Keep in mind CVS laid-off plenty of pharmacists when they eliminated the overnight position so CVS isn't necessarily more job security.

Is the job clinical? Do you dose Vanco and AG's? Do you do a lot of IV's?
Is it possible to change to a better schedule? Or is it night time mostly throughout the company?
How long have you been at Pharmerica?

 

[PAtoPharm]

I work at PharMerica. It a good gig compared to CVS. You can sit down for pretty much as much of your shift as you want, no patients to yell at you, no drive-thru, perhaps a tenth as many phone calls. You have fellow pharmacists there with you so you don't have to do it all yourself (a blessing and a curse, but even slacker coworkers are better than none at all). We share IV and all other duties so that helps somewhat with the monotony (every facility has their own system though, personally I would be bummed to work at a facility that doesn't share the IV and other duties so YMMV naturally).

By far the worst parts of the job are having to stay late until the run goes out (for free) and being on call. God how I hate call. It is also less pay than CVS but for the difference in quality of work-life I would say it is a more than far trade.

Someone mentioned the job certainly involved with losing contracts, and that has some merit. We have lost two contracts since I started (and gained none) and each time we lose one everyone goes crazy talking about who is going to get the ax. So far there haven't been any terminations though so it is hard for me to know how seriously to take the fear-mongering. Obviously at some point we would have to have lay-offs, I just don't know what that point is. Keep in mind CVS laid-off plenty of pharmacists when they eliminated the overnight position so CVS isn't necessarily more job security.

So you're paid one flat salary to do all your work? Even taking call?

 

[owlegrad]

So you're paid one flat salary to do all your work? Even taking call?

No, I get paid for call. I just don't get paid to stay late. It's common outside CA for pharmacists to be salaried and not paid extra for working extra. I do get paid extra if I have to come in while on call though.

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[owlegrad]

Is the job clinical? Do you dose Vanco and AG's? Do you do a lot of IV's?
Is it possible to change to a better schedule? Or is it night time mostly throughout the company?
How long have you been at Pharmerica?

Keep in mind every facility has their own system, but to answer your questions:

I do dose Vanco and AGs. Which I have come to hate, lol

We rotate day and night shifts on a weekly basis. I would bet that at facilities that do not rotate that day spots open up very rarely, basically at retirements or deaths.

May will make one year.

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[SELDANE]

Overall Pharmamerica sounds better than Walgreens. The fact that the institution you're looking at has a permanent 3 to 11 shift is a reason for pause. It's been my experience that institutions that fail to rotate staff between evenings and days usually have a week PIC/DOP. Because of the unsustainability of the schedule said institutions are almost always looking for a 3 to 11 pharmacist.

 

[sakigt]

I work evenings and it sucks but my kids are young so getting stuff done in the AM has its benefits. I also work 7ish on and 7 off so theres that. I have a very supportive husband so we make it work.

For what its worth my Mom switched to an evening gig while my brother was in HS (single mom) and he was left to his own devices. IMO I don't think it was a good idea. Nothing tragic, but just overall not good.

 

[Lisochka]

Thank you, guys!

 

[mentos]

No, I get paid for call. I just don't get paid to stay late. It's common outside CA for pharmacists to be salaried and not paid extra for working extra. I do get paid extra if I have to come in while on call though.

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How does call work? Do you have to be ready to work on your days off as soon as they call you? What if you have kids and can't find a sitter on the weekend? That sounds miserable.. so you basically can't leave town on your days off? Retail sucks but at least you get to punch in and out, then plan social events on your days off and not have to think about work.

 

[owlegrad]

How does call work? Do you have to be ready to work on your days off as soon as they call you? What if you have kids and can't find a sitter on the weekend? That sounds miserable.. so you basically can't leave town on your days off? Retail sucks but at least you get to punch in and out, then plan social events on your days off and not have to think about work.

No, it means while the pharmacy is closed if an issue comes up it gets routed to the rph on call. Basically it means being ready to go in at 3 am to make an IV or send some percocet.

I still have my days off, thankfully.

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