Working 10 or more straight days in retail

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2012PharmDgrad

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I graduated last year and started working full-time as a pharmacist at WAGs the first week of February. I am grateful to have a job and be making good money, but I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed with my schedule as a floater pharmacist.

My scheduler, in most cases, sets me up to work up to 10 or more days straight before I finally get a mediocre day or two off. I am starting to get tired of this nonsense. When I was first hired, I worked 15 days in a row and was given a long, 4 days weekend. I have been working since last Monday and still have tomorrow and Friday to work before I get this weekend off. In the four months I've worked in retail, I have quickly realized I do not want to do retail for the rest of my life. I consider this type of environment a sweatshop and nothing more than a prescription factory. This doesn't feel like a profession at all. Add to that the ****ty hours and that just tops it all. I will probably start looking for work in another type of setting very soon, even if that means taking a paycut. I want better hours, an actual lunch break (as a professional, I think I am entitled to this), and a more laid back work environment.

How can I deal with this situation? I feel the company is starting to burn me out. I can work up to a max of 7 days straight before I start getting drained. I am AFRAID of addressing this issue with the person creating my schedule for fear of getting terminated. Employers do have the ball in their court these days. Working 10 days straight or more is mentally draining, especially in a retail setting. How would you address this issue?
 
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Most schedulers will listen to you... Just ask her that you want 2 days off every week, she will try to accommodate your needs. If she won't listen, you bring it up to your boss. Your district supervisor will not want you to work 10 days straight. It's a liability issue for the company.

I did 26 days straight long time ago and my boss told the scheduler to specifically give me a day off every week, or the scheduler will get in trouble.
 
Schedulers will work the hell out of you if you don't put your foot down. The DMs also don't care as long as they don't have to deal with it. Just tell her no more than 5 days in a row. They don't care about liability either. They will just fire you for too many mistakes when they inevitably occur.
 
Op

This doesn't feel like a profession at all.
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Well spotted........!! it ain't a profession. It is a manual job we do. Don't need a phoney "doctorate" to do this silly job.
 
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Hello2000 said:
Op



Well spotted........!! it ain't a profession. It is a manual job we do. Don't need a phoney "doctorate" to do this silly job.
Click to expand...

It's a job....like working at mcdonalds or taco bell...it's not a career.
 
Is it me or 10 days straight isn't that big of a deal? Residency routinely make you staff every other weekends, so 12 days straight followed by 2 days off. Now I realize that's residency, but it wasn't something that felt totally overwhelming. So I guess my point is, long as they average it out by giving a 4 day weekend at the end of each 10 days stretch, some people might actually like it that way. Of course if you don't want that, you can always ask, they worst they can say is no.
 
Lnsean said:
It's a job....like working at mcdonalds or taco bell...it's not a career.
Click to expand...

Yep, and yet you chose it for some reason....🙄

There are pharmacist positions that are careers, just not for the majority of pharmacists working in the trenches of chain retail...
 
I honestly don't understand the doom and gloom, trashing of the profession (yes, I said profession), and negative outlook on everything that people have. I support being realistic, but in reality the doom and gloom presented by some is no where near as bad as things are in reality, working in a pharmacy is also not comparable to a sweat shop nor is a pharmacist rationally comparable to a McDonald's worker.

But then again I'll probably be written off as a "naive student listening to what I'm spoonfed by institutions that want my money with minimal real world experience."
 
I called my scheduler and requested that any time she assigns me to work more than 10 days straight (tomorrow will be day number 12), I get four days off. So, after tomorrow, I will have a very nice, long weekend. I will have Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off. I will go back to work on Wednesday afternoon feeling fresh.

Initially, she had only given me this Saturday and Sunday off followed by Tuesday and Thursday. But I asked her to give me those four days off consecutively because the weekend alone would not be long enough after working twelve days straight.

Thanks for your responses, guys. 👍
 
2012PharmDgrad said:
I called my scheduler and requested that any time she assigns me to work more than 10 days straight (tomorrow will be day number 12), I get four days off. So, after tomorrow, I will have a very nice, long weekend. I will have Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off. I will go back to work on Wednesday afternoon feeling fresh.

Initially, she had only given me this Saturday and Sunday off followed by Tuesday and Thursday. But I asked her to give me those four days off consecutively because the weekend alone would not be long enough after working twelve days straight.

Thanks for your responses, guys. 👍
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As a DOP, it's my job to tell others what to expect upfront.

My philosophy is simple:

(1) tell them what the expectations are upfront
(2) give enough training that they can do their job
(3) communicate clear chain of command, reward/penalty policy and hold them accountable
(4) then support staff when issues beyond those mentioned arises

Sorry if I sound like I'm regurgitating from some management book, but it's something I've been following. Be friendly and personable day to day, but hold the line, use written/approved policy to prevent abuse and from making you look like the bad guy. Get the buy-in from the CEO and other directors to back you up (and back them up when the time comes), and you will avoid much of the "but I'm special" kind of problems.
 
xiphoid2010 said:
Is it me or 10 days straight isn't that big of a deal? Residency routinely make you staff every other weekends, so 12 days straight followed by 2 days off. Now I realize that's residency, but it wasn't something that felt totally overwhelming. So I guess my point is, long as they average it out by giving a 4 day weekend at the end of each 10 days stretch, some people might actually like it that way. Of course if you don't want that, you can always ask, they worst they can say is no.
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I didn't see the big deal either, we work 12 days straight 12+ hour days as a matter of routine. Granted, it's not retail, but mistakes inpatient can be just as bad/worse on day #12.

I get a chair and bathroom breaks though, that might make the diff....hell i dunno wtf goes in retail anymore
 
waaa 10 days. put your life in perspective.

I used to do 40 (working 2 shifts in 2 different jobs in one day on some of those days). I know guys that go 365/yr. It's still way better than hard labor almost anywhere else in the world.
 
It depends on the working conditions. 10 days in a closed-door environment with infrequent distractions, breaks, lunch and manageable workflow is not the same as a retail setting. And the volume really doesn't matter. Sometimes it's harder in a low-volume store b/c there is no help. And air-conditioning makes a big difference. Hospitals have to be cool. Retail stores are literal sweatshops. A single ten hour shift at non-stop balls-to-the-wall pace w/o break, dealing with the public, multiple in-windows, phones, while the thermostat is controlled off-site at 74 degrees or higher will beat the crap out of you especially having to wear a tie and coat. If you are a guy with any muscle mass, your body can't shed the heat fast enough and with the brain trying to concentrate while casting a cone of silence spell continously does not help the body temp. Ten days of that crap and your 4 days off are going to be spent on the couch convalescing.
 
2012PharmDgrad said:
I graduated last year and started working full-time as a pharmacist at WAGs the first week of February. I am grateful to have a job and be making good money, but I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed with my schedule as a floater pharmacist.

My scheduler, in most cases, sets me up to work up to 10 or more days straight before I finally get a mediocre day or two off. I am starting to get tired of this nonsense. When I was first hired, I worked 15 days in a row and was given a long, 4 days weekend. I have been working since last Monday and still have tomorrow and Friday to work before I get this weekend off. In the four months I've worked in retail, I have quickly realized I do not want to do retail for the rest of my life. I consider this type of environment a sweatshop and nothing more than a prescription factory. This doesn't feel like a profession at all. Add to that the ****ty hours and that just tops it all. I will probably start looking for work in another type of setting very soon, even if that means taking a paycut. I want better hours, an actual lunch break (as a professional, I think I am entitled to this), and a more laid back work environment.

How can I deal with this situation? I feel the company is starting to burn me out. I can work up to a max of 7 days straight before I start getting drained. I am AFRAID of addressing this issue with the person creating my schedule for fear of getting terminated. Employers do have the ball in their court these days. Working 10 days straight or more is mentally draining, especially in a retail setting. How would you address this issue?
Click to expand...
people in residencies work >12 days in a row with long hours. If you're getting tired doing 10 days in a row, ask scheduler for time off. What's wrong with you people.

OMG I WANT TO MOVE NO ONE TOLD ME RETAIL WAS LIKE THIS

Yes retail has its downsides and it has those patients who are more than happy to see you and have their questions answered. Please tell me how someone who isn't a pharmacist could help those people.

Have you people even worked at mcds/taco bell to be comparing your position to one in the fast food industry? Seriously...
 
Most I did was 39 days in a row. Baller checks deposited in my account that month.
 
grumps said:
It depends on the working conditions. 10 days in a closed-door environment with infrequent distractions, breaks, lunch and manageable workflow is not the same as a retail setting. And the volume really doesn't matter. Sometimes it's harder in a low-volume store b/c there is no help. And air-conditioning makes a big difference. Hospitals have to be cool. Retail stores are literal sweatshops. A single ten hour shift at non-stop balls-to-the-wall pace w/o break, dealing with the public, multiple in-windows, phones, while the thermostat is controlled off-site at 74 degrees or higher will beat the crap out of you especially having to wear a tie and coat. If you are a guy with any muscle mass, your body can't shed the heat fast enough and with the brain trying to concentrate while casting a cone of silence spell continously does not help the body temp. Ten days of that crap and your 4 days off are going to be spent on the couch convalescing.
Click to expand...

+1

Sums up retail pharmacy in a paragraph.

Just because you make 100k+ still don't make it a profession. It is one of the most hideous jobs out there. 6 years of study for a fake "doctorate" degree to end up in a clerk's job 🙂
 
Hello2000 said:
+1

Sums up retail pharmacy in a paragraph.

Just because you make 100k+ still don't make it a profession. It is one of the most hideous jobs out there. 6 years of study for a fake "doctorate" degree to end up in a clerk's job 🙂
Click to expand...

Such a troll, or you need to grow up.

Why haven't you taken your own advice and quit this horrible non-career/job/profession? Have you reported this sweat shop type non-job to the Dept. of Labor yet? Or do you just cry about it on an anonymous internet forum?
 
Corpseman said:
Such a troll, or you need to grow up.

Why haven't you taken your own advice and quit this horrible non-career/job/profession? Have you reported this sweat shop type non-job to the Dept. of Labor yet? Or do you just cry about it on an anonymous internet forum?
Click to expand...

Actually if you had read his previous posts, you would realize he tried to work as a pilot.

And, please calm down. I am sure you have b*tched many times on this forum.
 
BMBiology said:
Actually if you had read his previous posts, you would realize he tried to work as a pilot.

And, please calm down. I am sure you have b*tched many times on this forum.
Click to expand...

I bitch about others bitching on here. I have yet to cry about this profession every chance I get while collecting nice pay checks.


Oh woe is us, pharmacists! We are nothing but slaves! This is exactly like working at Taco Bell! Oh Woe is me!
 
Hello2000 said:
+1

Sums up retail pharmacy in a paragraph.

Just because you make 100k+ still don't make it a profession. It is one of the most hideous jobs out there. 6 years of study for a fake "doctorate" degree to end up in a clerk's job 🙂
Click to expand...

This is the main reason I left pharmacy. My brain dead classmates are now working retail and acting like its the most intellectually challenging job they have ever had. 😱
 
A woman I knew in my old town who was an assistant manager at Steak & Shake said to me, "How do you know so much about fast food? I thought you were a pharmacist" and I replied, "I am, but I haven't always been, and the jobs are not as different as you might think they are."

And that was several years before things rapidly went south.
 
Corpseman said:
I bitch about others bitching on here. I have yet to cry about this profession every chance I get while collecting nice pay checks.


Oh woe is us, pharmacists! We are nothing but slaves! This is exactly like working at Taco Bell! Oh Woe is me!
Click to expand...

It's the entitlement attitude that gets me.

LOL at 10 days straight, though. That's nothing. Some of these kids should talk to some poor or working class people, or our soldiers.

Man, people would give their left you-know-what to earn 100K for 10 days in a row.

I don't see anyone jumping out the drive thru in an attempt to get run over by an Escalade full of medicaid babies because of their slave driving PICs. I won't take anyone seriously until they tell me they pee in a bucket with their name on it, wash their white coat in the sink, and sleep on a cot in the corner 😀
 
rxlea said:
It's the entitlement attitude that gets me.

LOL at 10 days straight, though. That's nothing. Some of these kids should talk to some poor or working class people, or our soldiers.

Man, people would give their left you-know-what to earn 100K for 10 days in a row.

I don't see anyone jumping out the drive thru in an attempt to get run over by an Escalade full of medicaid babies because of their slave driving PICs. I won't take anyone seriously until they tell me they pee in a bucket with their name on it, wash their white coat in the sink, and sleep on a cot in the corner 😀
Click to expand...

Huh? How is that entitlement? It's just asking for fair work load... Same thing when James wanted vacations. i'm not sure why we should compare ourselves to "working class people or our soldiers"? That line of reasoning doesn't even make any sense. If I wanted my work condition to be like the "working class", I'd have just stayed in my high school MickyD job my whole life... Screw college and grad school! Then I guess I'll have a right to bitch about how you healthcare professionals are all a bunch of &$/@& and say I'd take your job anyday!

You say people would give their left you know what to earn 100k... Well, what's stoping them from trying?

Also, working 10days stright is okay if you are working in a good store, but floaters usually aren't that lucky. So it's also a patient safety issue.
 
wucool33 said:
Huh? How is that entitlement? It's just asking for fair work load... Same thing when James wanted vacations. i'm not sure why we should compare ourselves to "working class people or our soldiers"? That line of reasoning doesn't even make any sense. If I wanted my work condition to be like the "working class", I'd have just stayed in my high school MickyD job my whole life... Screw college and grad school! Then I guess I'll have a right to bitch about how you healthcare professionals are all a bunch of &$/@& and say I'd take your job anyday!

You say people would give their left you know what to earn 100k... Well, what's stoping them from trying?

Also, working 10days stright is okay if you are working in a good store, but floaters usually aren't that lucky. So it's also a patient safety issue.
Click to expand...

I think her point is that this is a first world problem. There is always someone who cry foul whenever work doesn't go according to the 9-5 schedule in an environment that saw little hardship.

This article is good for some a laughs as a side swipe at the issue:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112533582/america-consumes-80-worlds-painkillers/
"Long Island, New York, pharmacist Howard Levine told the BBC that "we've become a society of wusses." :laugh:
 
wucool33 said:
Huh? How is that entitlement? It's just asking for fair work load... Same thing when James wanted vacations. i'm not sure why we should compare ourselves to "working class people or our soldiers"? That line of reasoning doesn't even make any sense. If I wanted my work condition to be like the "working class", I'd have just stayed in my high school MickyD job my whole life... Screw college and grad school! Then I guess I'll have a right to bitch about how you healthcare professionals are all a bunch of &$/@& and say I'd take your job anyday!

You say people would give their left you know what to earn 100k... Well, what's stoping them from trying?

Also, working 10days stright is okay if you are working in a good store, but floaters usually aren't that lucky. So it's also a patient safety issue.
Click to expand...

This generation is so preoccupied with what is "fair". Please explain.

Secondly, chill out. Half of what you're saying is nonsense.

Now, the only thing you've said that might be worth discussing is patient safety. So, what exactly are you talking about?

And yes, first world problems.
 
rxlea said:
This generation is so preoccupied with what is "fair". Please explain.

Secondly, chill out. Half of what you're saying is nonsense.

Now, the only thing you've said that might be worth discussing is patient safety. So, what exactly are you talking about?

And yes, first world problems.
Click to expand...

I'm saying I don't get why people like you like to compare apples to oranges. If that doesn't make sense to you, then there's no point in discussing this further. Last time I checked, we live in a first world country. Maybe we should all be working 365 days/yr none stop and only make $5/hr since that's still way better than the poor children in Africa.
 
grumps said:
It depends on the working conditions. 10 days in a closed-door environment with infrequent distractions, breaks, lunch and manageable workflow is not the same as a retail setting. And the volume really doesn't matter. Sometimes it's harder in a low-volume store b/c there is no help. And air-conditioning makes a big difference. Hospitals have to be cool. Retail stores are literal sweatshops. A single ten hour shift at non-stop balls-to-the-wall pace w/o break, dealing with the public, multiple in-windows, phones, while the thermostat is controlled off-site at 74 degrees or higher will beat the crap out of you especially having to wear a tie and coat. If you are a guy with any muscle mass, your body can't shed the heat fast enough and with the brain trying to concentrate while casting a cone of silence spell continously does not help the body temp. Ten days of that crap and your 4 days off are going to be spent on the couch convalescing.
Click to expand...

Grumps is right (can't believe I said that). It depends on where you work.

10 days straight in retail is very tough, mentally and physically, especially when you are floating. They float you to the armpit of pharmacy which often require you to drive 1+ hour. Every night when you are driving home, you hope you didn't make a major mistake and hurt someone. You have this nauseated feeling in the pit of your stomach that just won't go away. When you are in your bed, you keep on looking at the clock and counting down how many hours you have left before you have to get up and do this crap all over again.

(and this is coming from someone who only worked as an intern in retail).
 
wucool33 said:
I'm saying I don't get why people like you like to compare apples to oranges. If that doesn't make sense to you, then there's no point in discussing this further. Last time I checked, we live in a first world country. Maybe we should all be working 365 days/yr none stop and only make $5/hr since that's still way better than the poor children in Africa.
Click to expand...

I took Lea's post as saying comparing pharmacy to sweat shops and fast food is ridiculous when in reality it isn't that bad for most of us. More that she's saying the job isn't comparable than saying it should be.
 
rxlea said:
Exactly. I've worked 24 days in a row while going to school full-time. $$$$$$ is a hell of an incentive!
Click to expand...

Darn, I think mine was 17 days in a row, but it was overnight 7 days then flipped into about a double shift at the end of it, went home to sleep, came back next morning to do days, made an early day one day then flipped back to nights.

Yah not doing that again, lol. But holy **** when those successive two paychecks arrived....cuh-chinnngggg
 
ucrx said:
I took Lea's post as saying comparing pharmacy to sweat shops and fast food is ridiculous when in reality it isn't that bad for most of us. More that she's saying the job isn't comparable than saying it should be.
Click to expand...

Yeah people that compare pharmacy to fast food and sweat shop are ridiculous. But I took her post a little differently when she started making comparisons to the "poor and working class", which is equally ridiculous.
 
wucool33 said:
I'm saying I don't get why people like you like to compare apples to oranges. If that doesn't make sense to you, then there's no point in discussing this further. Last time I checked, we live in a first world country. Maybe we should all be working 365 days/yr none stop and only make $5/hr since that's still way better than the poor children in Africa.
Click to expand...

People like me??? LOL

Explain
 
The most I've worked straight in retail was 21 days. How hectic the store is plays a huge factor in how many days one can take in a row of retail. A store ran smoothly, 10 days is cake, a hectic, short staffed store with nothing but problems, 10 days straight can probably drain you. I remember being drained so bad once that I could barely had any energy to do anything on my day off, I laid on the couch most of the day because I was so exhausted from work.
 
wucool33 said:
Yeah people that compare pharmacy to fast food and sweat shop are ridiculous.
Click to expand...

But we all know CVS is really just a 7-11, see, I have photographic proof:

CVS.png
 
IIRC, I went just short of three months without a day off in my last profession. And I didn't go back to school because of the working conditions. I went back because the industry I was in was dying and there was minimal job satisfaction. First world problems make me giggle.
 
Would I want a physically and mentally exhausted pharmacist to dispense my medications? Nope

Burgers and fries? Yes, what is the worst case scenario? Get regular fries instead of crispy fries?
 
10 days + is common. You will get used to it.

My tip to you is - take it slow. Just do enough to get by.

When I first started, I got burned out working a lot of days because I would go in trying to be a super star. I'll fix messes, run around covering stations, stay behind for a while to clean up, and a lot more. I have since learned to take it easy and do enough to stay under the radar.
 
I've done 10 days in a row many times. I'm not at all thrilled by it, but its certainly survivable. Talk to your scheduler, do your best to get a good nights sleep, and eat a balanced meal before going your work shift starts. Take it 1 day at a time.
 
You should have known exactly what you were getting into the moment you stepped foot in a pharmacy school that all retail stores are hectic. If you cannot handle the stress, you either cut back on hours, switch to a quieter store or show up on the unemployment line. I knew the custodian of my pharmacy who, for a couple of years, worked THREE jobs to support his family prior to working at the hospital. This guy is 55 years old and can push four 55 gallon drums of pharmaceutical hazardous waste in one trip.

My parents worked 7 days straight for 10 years and never complained. What are you going to do when you get married, have two kids and a mortgage along with your job? Your parents certainly won't be guiding you for life. Being a father/ mother is the most demanding job that is 100x more stressful.

Read this story and remember all retails treat you like a number and can replace you with a pharmacist who works faster, looks sexier, and paid less.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-bankers-work-100-hours-per-week-2013-4
 
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