Setting a limit on how many hours a pharmacist can work per week

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winter32842

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I know so many pharmacists that are working 2-3 pharmacy jobs. They usually have one full time job and they usually do per-diem in other pharmacy stores or hospitals. The reason why they work per-diem is to have a job security. In my hospital, there are 7 per-diems (they take away 3 full time position hours). One of the pharmacist in our hospital works in four different pharmacy hospitals. The company loves per-diem because the company does not have to pay benefits to the per-diem employees.

Do you know who gets screwed? the new graduates. We can not find jobs because few people work more than 2-3 jobs even though they do not need it


I believe the law limits medical doctor from working a lot of hours per week because people are more prone to making mistakes if they work a lot of hours.

I think, there should similar law regarding pharmacy.A pharmacist can not work more than 50 hours per week. I am telling you, this law would open thousands of jobs.
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Last edited:
winter32842 said:
I know so many pharmacists that are working 2-3 pharmacy jobs. They usually have one full time job and they usually do per-diem in other pharmacy stores or hospitals. The reason why they work per-diem is to have a job security. In my hospital, there are 7 per-diems (they take away 3 full time position hours). One of the pharmacist in our hospital works in four different pharmacy hospitals. The company loves per-diem because the company does not have to pay benefits to the per-diem employees.

Do you know who gets screwed? the new graduates. We can not find jobs because few people work more than 2-3 jobs even though they do not need it


I believe the law limits medical doctor from working a lot of hours per week because people are more prone to making mistakes if they work a lot of hours.

I think, there should similar law regarding pharmacy.A pharmacist can not work more than 50 years per week. I am telling you, this law would open thousands of jobs.
Click to expand...

I'm with you.
 
So...you are going to make a law that limits how hard a person can work? Yeah that sounds really smart to me.
 
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winter32842 said:
I know so many pharmacists that are working 2-3 pharmacy jobs. They usually have one full time job and they usually do per-diem in other pharmacy stores or hospitals. The reason why they work per-diem is to have a job security. In my hospital, there are 7 per-diems (they take away 3 full time position hours). One of the pharmacist in our hospital works in four different pharmacy hospitals. The company loves per-diem because the company does not have to pay benefits to the per-diem employees.

Do you know who gets screwed? the new graduates. We can not find jobs because few people work more than 2-3 jobs even though they do not need it


I believe the law limits medical doctor from working a lot of hours per week because people are more prone to making mistakes if they work a lot of hours.

I think, there should similar law regarding pharmacy.A pharmacist can not work more than 50 hours per week. I am telling you, this law would open thousands of jobs.
Click to expand...
No thanks. I used to think that working 80 hours a week would be dangerous, but after having done it, I no longer think that way. In my opinion, each pharmacist knows their own limit. And if not, they'll suffer and quickly find out.

And how do you know what they need to work? Maybe their child is getting married and they need to finance it or they're trying to retire, etc.
 
winter32842 said:
I know so many pharmacists that are working 2-3 pharmacy jobs. They usually have one full time job and they usually do per-diem in other pharmacy stores or hospitals. The reason why they work per-diem is to have a job security. In my hospital, there are 7 per-diems (they take away 3 full time position hours). One of the pharmacist in our hospital works in four different pharmacy hospitals. The company loves per-diem because the company does not have to pay benefits to the per-diem employees.

Do you know who gets screwed? the new graduates. We can not find jobs because few people work more than 2-3 jobs even though they do not need it


I believe the law limits medical doctor from working a lot of hours per week because people are more prone to making mistakes if they work a lot of hours.

I think, there should similar law regarding pharmacy.A pharmacist can not work more than 50 hours per week. I am telling you, this law would open thousands of jobs.
Click to expand...

Hey kid -- who is John Galt?
 
wow....- limit the hrs one can work.....don't you think that might come back full swing and bite you in the arse?
 
winter32842 said:
I know so many pharmacists that are working 2-3 pharmacy jobs. They usually have one full time job and they usually do per-diem in other pharmacy stores or hospitals. The reason why they work per-diem is to have a job security. In my hospital, there are 7 per-diems (they take away 3 full time position hours). One of the pharmacist in our hospital works in four different pharmacy hospitals. The company loves per-diem because the company does not have to pay benefits to the per-diem employees.

Do you know who gets screwed? the new graduates. We can not find jobs because few people work more than 2-3 jobs even though they do not need it


I believe the law limits medical doctor from working a lot of hours per week because people are more prone to making mistakes if they work a lot of hours.

I think, there should similar law regarding pharmacy.A pharmacist can not work more than 50 hours per week. I am telling you, this law would open thousands of jobs.
Click to expand...

Pharmacists don't want to work prn or per diem jobs. They want full time employment. Limiting the number of hours really isn't going to help. I agree with another poster that pharmacists know their limit. I do 7on/7off and have determined more than 80hrs a week would be pushing it.
 
I can easily do 50-60 hrs a week. Also, some of my per diem jobs are really slow. I get paid to go online...
 
maybe if we lived under some dictatorship or something...but no, dumbest idea ever. 50 hours is nothing.
 
I think some people are mis-reading my post. The main reason why I want to limit pharmacist's hours is to create jobs.

I don't think it is fair that some pharmacists works 60-70 hours per week and other pharmacists can not find jobs. If you look at other professions (lawyer, business, engineer, teacher, scientists), they usually work one job (40 hours a week) unlike pharmacy, where some people work like 80 hours a week.

Don't tell me that people work 80 hours a week because they need the money (other than recent graduate) since pharmacists make way more money than most other professions.

Tell me how is it fair that one person work 60-80 hours a week and another person can not find a job since there is no "job opening". If all pharmacists work about 40 hours a week, there would be thousands of job opening.
 
winter32842 said:
Tell me how is it fair that one person work 60-80 hours a week and another person can not find a job since there is no "job opening". If all pharmacists work about 40 hours a week, there would be thousands of job opening.
Click to expand...

That is twice you have said "thousands". Care to show your math on that? How about this, tell me how many pharmacists must there be working >70 hours per week in order to open up thousands of jobs?

How many pharmacy jobs do you think there are total?
 
That is the dumbest idea ever OP. What we really should limit the salary of pharmacists to no more than 50k a year. That way, we can hire another pharmacist for each one employed AND provide overlap in the process.
 
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Rockinacoustic said:
That is the dumbest idea ever OP. What we really should limit the salary of pharmacists to no more than 50k a year. That way, we can hire another pharmacist for each one employed AND provide overlap in the process.
Click to expand...

No, what we should do is limit the number of prescriptions a pharmacist can check per day. That way more pharmacies would need to open.
 
owlegrad said:
No, what we should do is limit the number of prescriptions a pharmacist can check per day. That way more pharmacies would need to open.
Click to expand...

This is true. Pair it with my idea and we'll need to open up another 50 Pharmacy schools, thus increasing the need for Deans, Professors, Janitors, etc.
 
how about we step back in time and not have 50 schools open up.... thus solving everyones problem...more jobs...high demand..etc.........
 
owlegrad said:
That is twice you have said "thousands". Care to show your math on that? How about this, tell me how many pharmacists must there be working >70 hours per week in order to open up thousands of jobs?

How many pharmacy jobs do you think there are total?
Click to expand...


There is no statistics, I am throwing out numbers from my personal experience. I worked many different places, almost everywhere 1/4 (25%) of the pharmacy staffs had another per-diem job. They work like 50-60 hours a week. Like I said, my hospital has 7 per-diem pharmacy staffs, which is equal to 3 full time position. If you don't believe me take a quick survey in this forum.


Rockinacoustic said:
That is the dumbest idea ever OP. What we really should limit the salary of pharmacists to no more than 50k a year. That way, we can hire another pharmacist for each one employed AND provide overlap in the process.
Click to expand...

You probably think this is a dumb idea because you probably have a job or have multiple jobs. Unlike you and most of the people here, I am a student and my future is uncertain. It is sad that some of my friends that graduated can not find a job because some people work more than 60 hours a week.
 
winter32842 said:
You probably think this is a dumb idea because you probably have a job or have multiple jobs. Unlike you and most of the people here, I am a student and my future is uncertain. It is sad that some of my friends that graduated can not find a job because some people work more than 60 hours a week.
Click to expand...

No, we think this is a dumb idea because it's ridiculous to think this is actually a possibility. Hard working people find jobs. You don't create more jobs by telling some people they're working too much and legally limiting them to a certain number of hours. Point to 1 field where this has happened. It's frustrating to have competition for the few jobs in the marketplace, but that's the state of pharmacy and it will be for a long time.
 
Hell no. I'd work multiple jobs and pay that debt off fast. And more $$$$$.

And how exactly are you going to enforce this? If the government puts a limit on how many hours you can work, then I'll just get a pharmacy job that pays off the books.
 
StevePerry said:
Hey kid -- who is John Galt?
Click to expand...
Wow I thought the same thing.
winter32842 said:
You probably think this is a dumb idea because you probably have a job or have multiple jobs. Unlike you and most of the people here, I am a student and my future is uncertain. It is sad that some of my friends that graduated can not find a job because some people work more than 60 hours a week.
Click to expand...
Yeah we should punish everyone else because YOU aren't sure you can get a job. Really?
 
If you are that concerned about your future than...

a) Get out of pharmacy and pursue another field you love that has better perceived job opportunities.

b) Do some research and find an area of pharmacy that is underutilized and work to make yourself indispensable in that area.

c) Network as much as possible while in school, because it's all about who you know...it really is, actually true.

d) Move to Alaska where you can make $1 Million a year without overtime.


I'm just saying that 3 of the above options are more feasible than trying to put legislative policy into effect that could truly adversely affect the lives of "thousands" of people. You have no way of knowing the reasons why a person is working overtime. Maybe they only have part time jobs and have an expensive medical condition. Maybe they are trying to adopt an orphan from overseas...you just can't tell.
 
schamj01 said:
If you are that concerned about your future than...

a) Get out of pharmacy and pursue another field you love that has better perceived job opportunities.

b) Do some research and find an area of pharmacy that is underutilized and work to make yourself indispensable in that area.

c) Network as much as possible while in school, because it's all about who you know...it really is, actually true.

d) Move to Alaska where you can make $1 Million a year without overtime.


I'm just saying that 3 of the above options are more feasible than trying to put legislative policy into effect that could truly adversely affect the lives of "thousands" of people. You have no way of knowing the reasons why a person is working overtime. Maybe they only have part time jobs and have an expensive medical condition. Maybe they are trying to adopt an orphan from overseas...you just can't tell.
Click to expand...
Or maybe they enjoy what they do?????
wink.gif




Why don't we set the limit to 5 hours per week, that way, everyone could have a job and everyone with more than one person per household would live at the poverty level??? I think that's the only fair way. :meanie:
 
America! Ameeeriiiiica! F! Yeah! The land of opportunity. People should be able to work as much as they feel that their body/mind will allow. If working this many hours affects their performance then their employer will make note and take corrective action. I applaud someone who is able to find 4 jobs in this economy and figures out a way to make it work.

Just because you go to pharmacy school doesn't entitle you to a position once you are done. You decided to take on the risk when you went into pharmacy school. Four years of pharmacy school should be more than enough time for a good candidate with enough determination and resolve to network with the correct people and find some kind of internship or have some kind of lead when done with school.

If you feel so strongly about this, why don't you go to the people at the hospital where you work and present them with a case that proves to them that you are a better candidate for their pharmacy than the 3 or 4 per-diems that currently occupy that position. You may be surprised, they may reward you for taking the initiative.
 
winter32842 said:
I think some people are mis-reading my post. The main reason why I want to limit pharmacist's hours is to create jobs.

I don't think it is fair that some pharmacists works 60-70 hours per week and other pharmacists can not find jobs..
Click to expand...

Life isn't fair kid so what does fair have to do with it?


winter32842 said:
If you look at other professions (lawyer, business, engineer, teacher, scientists), they usually work one job (40 hours a week) unlike pharmacy, where some people work like 80 hours a week..
Click to expand...

Yep there are a lot of successful lawyers who work only 40 hours a week. I am sure there are no businessmen, scientists or engineers who put in more than 40 either. Give me a break your whole post is silly.
 
as others have mentioned, living # of hrs per week makes no sense given the different types of jobs out there.

But I do think a cap on a how many hours you can work straight should be set. Accuracy and safety goes down the toilet when you are working on your 20th hour, having been through a residency made that clear enough. This is the same reason why the limit on medical resident hrs were set few years back.

80 hr/wk over 4 weeks, 18-24 hr continuous work limit would make more sense from a patient safety perspective. 50hr/week? That's nothing.
 
Oh ****! I just hit 50 hrs. Better pack up and leave...
 
I do know some people with multiple jobs....however I would say the majority of our part time or per diem pharmacists are mothers with children. They are good for companies because they can fill holes in the schedule and not have to pay them OT.

This is America and people are allowed to work as much as they please. Most pharmacists know their limit. I don't have a lot of sympathy for new grads. I worked hard to get where I am.
 
winter32842 said:
You probably think this is a dumb idea because you probably have a job or have multiple jobs. Unlike you and most of the people here, I am a student and my future is uncertain. It is sad that some of my friends that graduated can not find a job because some people work more than 60 hours a week.
Click to expand...

You have a lot to learn about the world kid. We think your idea is dumb because it is, plain and simple.
 
winter32842 said:
If you look at other professions (lawyer, business, engineer, teacher, scientists), they usually work one job (40 hours a week) unlike pharmacy, where some people work like 80 hours a week.
Click to expand...

rofl.... i don't anyone in those professions that works only 40 hours a week...hahahahhaha such a naive little person, hahahha
 
KARM12 said:
I do know some people with multiple jobs....however I would say the majority of our part time or per diem pharmacists are mothers with children. They are good for companies because they can fill holes in the schedule and not have to pay them OT.

This is America and people are allowed to work as much as they please. Most pharmacists know their limit. I don't have a lot of sympathy for new grads. I worked hard to get where I am.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Students need to understand what the're getting into with pharmacy. Its not what it was when I graduated. Today, networking is crucial. Capping work hours goes against the very economy we are based upon.
 
If everybody of every profession works 20 hours a week, there would be millions of job openings. Unemployment rate would be zero. Economy would be back! What a genius idea!




winter32842 said:
I think some people are mis-reading my post. The main reason why I want to limit pharmacist's hours is to create jobs.

I don't think it is fair that some pharmacists works 60-70 hours per week and other pharmacists can not find jobs. If you look at other professions (lawyer, business, engineer, teacher, scientists), they usually work one job (40 hours a week) unlike pharmacy, where some people work like 80 hours a week.

Don't tell me that people work 80 hours a week because they need the money (other than recent graduate) since pharmacists make way more money than most other professions.

Tell me how is it fair that one person work 60-80 hours a week and another person can not find a job since there is no "job opening". If all pharmacists work about 40 hours a week, there would be thousands of job opening.
Click to expand...
 
schamj01 said:
If you are that concerned about your future than...


d) Move to Alaska where you can make $1 Million a year without overtime.
Click to expand...

whut?! post a factual link or its BS.... making up nonsense are we??
 
winter32842 said:
I know so many pharmacists that are working 2-3 pharmacy jobs. They usually have one full time job and they usually do per-diem in other pharmacy stores or hospitals. The reason why they work per-diem is to have a job security. In my hospital, there are 7 per-diems (they take away 3 full time position hours). One of the pharmacist in our hospital works in four different pharmacy hospitals. The company loves per-diem because the company does not have to pay benefits to the per-diem employees.

Do you know who gets screwed? the new graduates. We can not find jobs because few people work more than 2-3 jobs even though they do not need it


I believe the law limits medical doctor from working a lot of hours per week because people are more prone to making mistakes if they work a lot of hours.

I think, there should similar law regarding pharmacy.A pharmacist can not work more than 50 hours per week. I am telling you, this law would open thousands of jobs.
Click to expand...

While in theory it may sound great, but what you will get is some stats buff who does a study that determine the safe amount of hours a pharmacist can work per week and reduce the number of errors will be 32 hours, then we are all f****d!

Plus, the option needs to be available for people to work more, they may have different circumstances that require them to make more money, sick kid, sick spouse, something like that. As someone said before, people know their limits.
 
schamj01 said:
d) Move to Alaska where you can make $1 Million a year without overtime.
Click to expand...


post a legit link or it didn't happen.... i hope that it is bc Ill be on the next plane there. A milli in one year for an rph? Its blasphemy
 
winter32842 said:
I think some people are mis-reading my post. The main reason why I want to limit pharmacist's hours is to create jobs.

I don't think it is fair that some pharmacists works 60-70 hours per week and other pharmacists can not find jobs. If you look at other professions (lawyer, business, engineer, teacher, scientists), they usually work one job (40 hours a week) unlike pharmacy, where some people work like 80 hours a week.

Don't tell me that people work 80 hours a week because they need the money (other than recent graduate) since pharmacists make way more money than most other professions.

Tell me how is it fair that one person work 60-80 hours a week and another person can not find a job since there is no "job opening". If all pharmacists work about 40 hours a week, there would be thousands of job opening.
Click to expand...

You're crying about fair!!???? Unfair, is that I have Ulcerative Colitis and the medicine that works for me I can't have because my insurance would rather me have something else, that's not fair, but it is what it is.

Everyone who chooses a career path takes a risk, you are getting in at the wrong time. Big deal, it sucks, move on. There are people who can't afford to feed their families and you are b****ing that you may have to move out of town to get a job making 90-100k per year. Get over yourself, there are jobs out there and if you work hard enough you'll find one, you may just have to sacrifice some of your preferences.

I live in a rural town working for an Independent and there are pharmacist openings in my town. It's not the most wonderful place to live, but I have a job and my family is fed.

You think you have it so bad, just ask the hardworking blue-collar guy with a mortgage and two kids who just lost his job and subsequently his house. I don't need to sight any sources for you to know there are thousands of people who have lost there jobs.

You'll be fine and you'll get a job and if you don't right away, take the Income based repayment option and go back to work for Best Buy until things rebound and if they never do I'll gladly use your employee discount to procure a kick ass home entertainment system that I can afford, because I got some extra hours.....😉
 
Trent Steele said:
post a legit link or it didn't happen.... i hope that it is bc Ill be on the next plane there. A milli in one year for an rph? Its blasphemy
Click to expand...

Its true...A friend of a friends mothers uncles cousins neighbor heard the garbage man taking about it. Its top secret. If I post a link it will be deleted and I will be punished by having to work for CVS.
 
Trent Steele said:
Unicorns?? WTF? Dipping into the soma stock again at work are we?
Click to expand...

No man. There are unicorn rphs running around this here forum. Seriously. They wait in the shadows for someone to call them out by saying "OMG all these diploma mills means I won't get a job and there are no residencies and you have to live in BFE and drive 2 hours to a grocery store and all these schools with lower standards are pumping out more and more and more graduates who are going to accept jobs for 20 dollars an hour and then we will all be replaced by robots because doctors think we are **** so you people better go to med school because it is so much better!"
 
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