Hi,
I have heard that retail pharmacy is a really stressful field. What do you guys think? If yes, what are the sources of stress? Is it mainly that the pharmacy is understaffed at most times, so the pharmacist has a million things to do by oneself in a short amount of time? How does hospital pharmacy compare?
My second question is whether retail pharmacy allows you to utilize the knowledge you gain in pharmacy school. I have heard some complaints that retail pharmacy is mainly trying to see how many presciptions you can process in a given amount of time rather than using the medical and drug knowledge you spent 4 years learning. Is hospital pharmacy different?
Thanks.
So...now, I'm back. I think I've recovered,but I just feel I've been beat with a stick all over. I must have some great circulating antibiodies - thats one small consolation.
Now...to your question. Are there stresses & what are the souce of stresses?
Yes to both - there are stresses in both retail & hospital - they are just different. Within retail, which so many know, the stresses are to get that rx done so that woman with the wailing baby will go away. Or get the rx done so the man with his two elderly parents - none of which speak English & will walk more than 1 foot back will go away. Or the insurance issues - which crop up every January. Everyone says their plan didn't change...but it did - otherwise they wouldn't have sent you that card you say is laying on your diningroom table. Well...it doesn't help me there! My biggest stress was coming into a place who had a technician who had been working there for 8 years, had gone thru 2 pharmacists before me & actually "ran" the place. One night, about 5PM, while I'm trying to get a dose adjusted by the urgent care guy for a pedi on a Phenergan VC w/Cod (which is no longer made btw)...she is haranguing me about needed to go faster. After 6 months of this, I slammed the phone down & told her the ONLY thing I EVER needed to do EVER was fill any rx that I chose to fill CORRECTLY. I was not being directed by her, was listening to her, care what she thought nor would take anymore of her suggestions -so that was one stress I finally had enough of & stopped it. So, you get some of that too - personnel who pushes you into doing things at the speed you don't want.
Hospitals are an entirely different ballgame. You are understaffed there, probably there more than anywhere. There is also a heirarchy you have to get past. Those of us who get out on the units love it because we hate pyxis fills, but sometimes we get roped into those as well.
Hospital work has much more routine stuff - you are processing & filling the very same post-CABG pt drugs which become like all the others you did that week. Occassionally, you'll have something interesting - an unexpected result or reaction, renal or liver failure, requiring dosage changes, Depending on what services you have in your hospital, you may have a SNF or MHU - SNFs require tremendous amounts of paperwork - every little thing is reviewed & documented -then there is a meeting on it - it becomes cumbersome. MHU often have weekly drug reveiws -group therapy for pts who are close to discharge. These can be humerous since as often as not the pts are still too stoned to know what you're saying & they've been on this stuff before or worse....so it becomes like a game of tell me what you know & they start rattling off all sorts of street drug lingo - its a good source to keep up to date on how much Seroque is going for on the street.
Depending on the size....there are always personnel issues. There seems to be someone who feels someone else is not carrying their weight, or is working too many weekends, or nights or Tues or something. There is always a nefarous motive for everything it seems. You see the petty side of people really, really fast.
Technicians get really ticked off at pharmacists in hospitl setting since so much of our work is "sitting down". We go over lab reports, put the values in the computer & see if the projected dose is reasonable. Likewise, some units require drug reviews - just looking thru the charts for .... whatever. Technicians don't see that as "work" & get the perception that they do all the work. As a pharmacist, you have to let that go & not even get into that dialog. Likewise, in the retail setting,, unless you are coming in as a floater for 1 day, you must set the tone for the day. I will not have waiting rxs shoved at me. Since I'm there, I know what is gong on & I can set the tone for the day, not someone else. Personally, I never threaten anthother pharmacist with "this lady will get really mad if her stuff is not done on time", which is a mantra the techs love. I'm more likely to say,, this lady has a hard time waiting. That lets the pharmacist know, he/she needs to engage this lady a bit while giving out the medications & be willing to exchange some conversation.
Finally, as for your knowledge base....it changes, although those lines have blurred a bit. When you don't work with IV inotropes, you lose the immediate knowledge of their relative potencies, dosages, advantages, prices, etc...Likewise, as a hospital pharmacist, they lose site of the practicalities of what they are ordering - 12.5mg hctz is a very difficult thing to get if the pt has rheumatoid arthritis & has to cut a 25mg tablet. Yes, she may have adult children, but she may not be ready yet to give up that dignity of getting her own medicines. So, ordering the 12.5mg capsule/ altho a bit more expsensive, saves everyone's "face" so to speak.
I have always found ways to use my knowledge in both places & many times, knowledge is all I dispense. Patients come to me just to understand what they learned at the doctor.
So...good luck. I've done both in my career & wouldn't have done it any differently.
!
