Just Questions

Instant classic indeed!! kudos
I bow as I am in the presence of a master….
fyi, “L” is subscript because I don’t want to reveal the identity of the surgery, “Superdrug” is the chain of drugstores I used to work for (that IS their name, google if you don’t believe), and NHS is the National Health Service.
Hope this answers all your queries everyone!
As for 17:20…..5:20 pm…..
Thought you guys were the first to have digital watches? What would Marty McFly say?

As far as calling the pharmacy back within 10 minutes after having no questions goes, at most chain pharmacies I go to, the tech at the register usually has the audacity to check “no” for me and then hand me the stylus to sign for the credit card payment. I really take issue with this- it isn’t informed consent, and they typically don’t verbally ask me if I have questions, either. I realize that many, many prescriptions are filled daily and the average idiot will just pound on the screen rather than READ that a box should be checked, but I don’t having my opportunity to inquire taken from me in the interests of speeding up a credit card payment. If this is what your techs do at the register, don’t find it surprising that you get more follow-up questions over the phone.

I’m still 20th century and use paper for everything….no credit card signing machine at my store! No HIPPA signature pad…

On the topic of people not willing to get their childs prescription unless it’s free, one of my friends was working at Eckerds and was ringing up a customer who couldn’t afford all of her stuff plus her childs antibiotic, so she didn’t want to get the medication. My friend suggested that if she returned the beer, the wine in a box, and the carton of cigarettes, she would have more than enough money left over to purchase the prescription.
her response: “Are you trying to tell me how to raise my child?!”
my friend: “No, but maybe somebody should.”
he is now my hero.

fibromyalgia? hmmm ….. The one about people paying for their 20 + other items @ the pharmacy, this pisses me off to no end! The “W” mart is bad for allowing that. Their service sucks enough as is, their lines are long and their staff is sloooooow. Then you have the older people who ALWAYS have to have all their items rung up, so your standing in hell line for like 20 mins to pick up 1 prescription. grrrr By staff slow I mean the lady ringing the stuff up is soooo sloooooow

If they have a prescription and a ton of other stuff, and there’s no line, then that’s fine… If there’s a line, pay for the prescription at the pharmacy and take the rest up front… I love the store I work at… Also because we have dedicated pharmacy cashiers…

Jeremy, your hero has some balls….
Sure its not you?

Carolyn, no, it’s not fine. You see, the moment the customer starts to pile their stuff onto the tiny pharmacy check-out counter (it’s tiny for a reason), the herd of people hiding around the corner will emerge and that customer’s ton of stuff will suddenly be the cause of a 20 minute waiting line. I’ve seen it happen too many times. A full cart and a customer who wants to pay for it all in the pharmacy is a prescription for a long line.

Heather, I think it’s called the “Sheep Reflex”. All it takes is one of the bastards to come forward, then, like the night of the living dead they all emerge with their carts. I agree with you, its not on, especially when there are other tills available. You will note this also happens if you want a coffee or if you need to go to the toilet. All you have to do is think about it-and voila….

Why do they call to see if we have #790 Methadone 10mg in stock?? Are they for real?? I don’t give out that information over the phone. Legitimate chronic pain patients have a personal relationship with their RPh because they don’t want to risk running out of medication.

I had my own “why” blog on Feb 11 2008,
Not quite so detailed however :-)
Great writing.

We used to have a sign that said 10 items or less only, but mgmt made us take it down because it’s not a company approved sign. (WTF?) So now we don’t have a sign, but we stick to that rule. If there’s a really long line (we only have one register, and no cashiers at all, so techs have to run the register), the “10 items or less” rule quickly becomes “just take it all up front”. Everything but C-IIs can go up front. Of course we have a nice system that lets us know if those people walked out without paying or not…they get phone calls the next day and a note added to their name and are not allowed to pay up front anymore.

Our 2nd register is on order, but we still won’t have anyone to run it…double edged sword. We’ll be able to pull 2 (sometimes that’s all we have) techs from drop off/filling in order to be overpaid cashiers. Go Wally World….*sigh*

Okay, i will amend my previous statement to “If they have a prescription and a ton of other stuff, and there’s no line, and there’s no chance of there becoming a line”…

We generally don’t let any of our prescriptions go up front (they steal our cash from us after a certain time at night if it’s been dead, so there’s not much choice then), and the stupid 8mg codeine narcotics have to be paid for in the back too… Other then that, it’s at our discretion… But, I’m not gonning to tell the patient with a prescription and a toothpaste, who is paying with debit, that they have to pay for the toothpaste up front…

Carolyn, just ask if they have the cash on them-if theyre buying a tube of toothpaste and paying for a rx with debit-they obviously carry around some sort of cash..
Why cant you just refuse? I have before….
Youre a pharmacist, a sniper there to spot the mistakes of others and right the wrongs….
I didnt realise that a pharmacy degree also gave you a part-time job as a clerk..
tell your store manager youre pissed off and if they dont provide cover, you want a clerks paycheck on top of your own.
Why do the job of two people when the job of a pharmacist is stressful enough?
bring on the scotch….

Melanie, so you need an ok from the machine to take your meds at home too…any self respecting pharmacist will answer, within their scope, the question/s you pose (as long as you can wait for them to answer)

I can add alot more to the “Just Questions” pharmacy commandments, but, here’s one I have to express… y is it that I work 12+ hours and only get a 30 minute “supervised” break…

Y is it I only get a 30 minute break that is either patient or retail management supervised when I work 12+ in a shift….I really hate that law and the corporate fatcats have wickered it to their advantage

I just had to add this, I went to the “W” mart again to pick up a prescription again today and there were 4 people in line, the first 3 were quick. The 4th one had a basket fulla items. She says “Can u ring this stuff here” now I looked behind me just to see there was about 5 people behind me, the idiot cashier says oh sure, now 1 or 2 items ok but her basket was filled. I piped up, “What the hell? Now we have to wait even longer to get our medicine, because someone has to bring the entire store to the pharmacy.” The lady put her items in her cart, gave me a dirty look, to which I said “and your problem is???” She walked away in a huff. OH BTW she wrote a check out for the whole 4 bucks!! LOL I am not normally that vocal about what I am thinking, but I was already in a bad mood anyways.

To Pharmacy guy..
To all pharmacists…
Isn’t it suppose to be law that everyone who works 8+ hours is suppose to get 2 15 min breaks and 1 30 min break? Shouldn’t it apply to you too??!!

That does not apply to people that are SALARIED and considered members of management…

I hate it when I’m stuck at the register in what we call “the zone” and I finally see an end in sight, only to spot the smelliest customer possible waltz in the door and catch my eye. I know that he is headed my way, and I cannot escape without a f ellow tech catching on to my plan. I need to know this: are these people aware of their smell??

On another note: This really chaps my hide. We have this one customer who is notorious for coming to the pharmacy counter with non-pharmacy items and no rx to pick up. She likes to ask :can you ring these up for me? There is a line up front and you don’t look busy.

Also, we are NOT photo technicians, don’t ask me to help you fill out your picture envelope. We are NOT Western Union, we are NOT Directory Assistance, we are NOT the place you go when you need to break your dollar so you can buy a soda out of the machine, we DON’T change watch batteries, we DON’T have a phone you can use to call your wife and ask what she needs from the store, the pharmacist is NOT a DOCTOR, take your infection somewhere else. And, please, don’t out your leaky chicken from the meat department on the counter, and for heaven’s sake, please don’t let your nose drip on the sig-cap!

Kathy, and the current PSE laws only enable that person with no pharmacy items to clutter my check out area with their sale items….only to not want half of them because they don’t understand that *buy one, get one free* means just that. It doesn’t mean that you get one at half price.

*argh*

P.S. Angriest…I think you’re right. This one is a classic.

And why do scab infected jaw chomping tweaked-out meth freaks actually expect me to sell them a “10-gauge, 100cc” needle?!

Heather, I just love filling out the PSE log, and explaining to the old lady who gets Allerphrim on a regular basis that she has reached her max for the month and can’t have any more for a week!

here’s a question i find myself asking nearly daily:
“why is it that people who dropped out of junior high think that they can come in, asking for needles/syringes, and fool the pharmacist who has gone through 6+ years of higher education? even the techs have gone through at least a year of training to deal with idiots like this.
also, why is it that even though we’re open for NINE hours every day, people will call us without fail to ask us to stay “just 5 minutes” after so they can get their 240 oxycontin 80 mg rx filled?

This entry almost brought tears to my eyes! So many rhetorical questions that apply daily. You think I could post this in my pharmacy and get away with it?

And yes, all the time with the cart full. A herd of people will show up and likely just after your only tech steps out for a few seconds. . .

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I’ve called the pharmacist with questions after I got home because the patient insert (some of us actually do read them!) had different dosing instructions than those my doctor wrote. So, unless you’d prefer that I stand at the counter reading the tiny print on the patient insert…. *g*

you are a godsend.

Why do people snarl “you have that information on file” at me, rather than just give me their damn info? I’m not writing a book; I’m just trying to make sure I have the right John Smith.

I know this is an older post, but I was reading all your archives and I couldn’t resist.
Why do patients send their spouses/neighbors/offspring in to pick up their prescription(s) and don’t tell them how many they are supposed to get or what to expect so that when they leave and get home, I get a hateful phone call from said lazy patient who had three scripts, not one, and who cannot understand how this could happen??