Problems as a new grad in retail setting

[icekitsune]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm having issues as an individual or as a pharmacist. As a intern, perhaps I don't see the underlining issues within the pharmacy or it just doesn't happen to the pharmacists I interned with. But as a pharmacist, I seem to encounter techs complaining about me or customer complaints about me over minor issues. Things that my fellow grad pharmacists friends so far has not encountered. I counsel and care to the patient to my best ability and just do my job as professional and polite as I can be. With all these complaints, sometimes I wonder if I'm doing something wrong ? is it because I'm a new grad ? or is this the "welcome to retail". I would love to hear your comments.

 

[Aviane]

It's tech-specific, there are some techs that are great and some techs that will even argue with the DM.

 

[HouTX]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm having issues as an individual or as a pharmacist. As a intern, perhaps I don't see the underlining issues within the pharmacy or it just doesn't happen to the pharmacists I interned with. But as a pharmacist, I seem to encounter techs complaining about me or customer complaints about me over minor issues. Things that my fellow grad pharmacists friends so far has not encountered. I counsel and care to the patient to my best ability and just do my job as professional and polite as I can be. With all these complaints, sometimes I wonder if I'm doing something wrong ? is it because I'm a new grad ? or is this the "welcome to retail". I would love to hear your comments.

I know you said you interned before but was it employment internship or IPPE/APPE internship?

 

[Estrace]

It's "welcome to retail". I still get complaints from patients every once in a while but not like I used to when I first started out. I wasn't even an intern in school and my first retail experience was rotation. I started out as a floater and I was miserable. I find myself worried about every minor thing. I cared if techs like me or not, whether that store manager answered my greetings or not and a bunch of other crap. And then I grow up, I stopped caring. When I walk into a store, I tell the techs exactly how I want things done and if that results in them not talking to me for the rest of the shift, fine by me. I don't deal with that anymore because I have a store now and I adore my techs. Now for patients complaints , I also developed tough skin. As long as I know that I have done everything right, I don't stress them. I'm extremely compassionate. My store managers knows that I'm the one to spend that extra time I don't have on the phone with some old guy because I know that sometimes they just want someone to talk to. But he also knows that I have low tolerance for rude patients. If you want to get the best out of me, please don't be rude. So I always get complaints from rude patients. It does help that he gets more compliments than complaints about me now. He might just be walking into the pharmacy and a patient in the waiting area will just start gushing to him about me . So he doesn't sweat so much about my complaints now.
My advice will be to look within yourself. What are these complaints? are they valid? Is it something you can work on. Continue to work on improving yourself everyday. It does get better.

 

[Gombrich12]

What are the complaints? Are they baseless or somewhat true?

 

[icekitsune]

It's "welcome to retail". I still get complaints from patients every once in a while but not like I used to when I first started out. I wasn't even an intern in school and my first retail experience was rotation. I started out as a floater and I was miserable. I find myself worried about every minor thing. I cared if techs like me or not, whether that store manager answered my greetings or not and a bunch of other crap. And then I grow up, I stopped caring. When I walk into a store, I tell the techs exactly how I want things done and if that results in them not talking to me for the rest of the shift, fine by me. I don't deal with that anymore because I have a store now and I adore my techs. Now for patients complaints , I also developed tough skin. As long as I know that I have done everything right, I don't stress them. I'm extremely compassionate. My store managers knows that I'm the one to spend that extra time I don't have on the phone with some old guy because I know that sometimes they just want someone to talk to. But he also knows that I have low tolerance for rude patients. If you want to get the best out of me, please don't be rude. So I always get complaints from rude patients. It does help that he gets more compliments than complaints about me now. He might just be walking into the pharmacy and a patient in the waiting area will just start gushing to him about me . So he doesn't sweat so much about my complaints now.
My advice will be to look within yourself. What are these complaints? are they valid? Is it something you can work on. Continue to work on improving yourself everyday. It does get better.

Thanks for your lengthy reply. When the PIC talk to me, I tell myself that this is constructive criticism and try not to take it personally.If its something that I can change, I will, since i'm new to retail. I get that. I got in trouble over a billing issue that i have to fill out something because of that customer complaint. It was the same patient that I took the time to talk to them and call them. So i'm a bit irritated over that. Sometimes I feel that I'm doing all I can to keep things easy going at the pharmacy and yet the techs are intentionally or not making comments here and there about me to the point where the pic have to talk to me. Clearly, imo, if the pic has to talk to me about something, its an issue. But the topic of the issue is like minor stuff like I check too much or something. Its like I can't run the pharmacy how I like to when I work cause everything I do, there are problems. Maybe I do need tougher skin, but I have a store.