Nov
The Great Hate
Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Courtesy, Disgusting, Drive-Thru, Drug Topics, Errors, Lazy People, Management, Me being a dick, Me hating others, Patient Education, Rude, TPA, Technicians, True Story, Update, Work Sucks
Two weeks ago I promised something big and failed to produce it. Sorry about that.
So, where the hell have I been the last two months? I’ve been just focusing on living my life. Everything’s fine with me. The stresses of my job are monumental, and it is getting the best of me. I cannot take it much longer. Retail pharmacy has defeated me. I’m throwing the towel in. I’m tapping out….
I’m not quitting my job just yet, but I am looking for something else. This is evident based on the post I made two months ago concerning clinical positions and residencies. I’d really like a clinical job coupled with a taste of academia. As has become evident, that is highly unlikely. I may find myself in a residency.
For now, I have requested a transfer out of my current location to a store that is less demanding….I’m not sure if that is going to be granted. I’m also concerned with the problems that is going to create with the current management.
What could possibly be so bad about retail / community pharmacy that would make me, the self-proclaimed King of Retail Pharmacy, reexamine the direction of his professional life? I’ll tell you at length:
My store is filling more than 800 prescriptions per day. We have 3.5 pharmacists. I work 40 hours per week. Jack works 30 hours one week and 40 hours the next week, and Jill works 28 hours per week (bare minimum for benefits). TheCrown works 40 too. I, of course, am a very efficient worker. I bust my ass day-in and day-out. I care about my job — my performance — customer satisfaction, safety, and outcomes.
Jack is the slowest pharmacist on the planet….he’s been outrun by molasses. He cares about the patient, but he’s in no hurry to do anything. He’s our stereotypical old-man pharmacist. He’s overly cautious and will take no chances or make no educated decisions based on past experiences. For instance, we have one doctor that continues to write PANNAZ over and over and over….even though Pannaz has been discontinued for a long ass time. He (and his office staff) has told us time and time again to change the prescription to Scopohist with the same directions. [Why he doesn't write that in the first fucking place is beyond me!] Is Jack okay with this? Absolutely not. He calls each time. He documents the date/time, who he talked to, the new drug, route, dose, and quantity. To the letter of the law, Jack is right. In a pharmacy cranking out 800+ prescriptions per day where two pharmacists are on duty at a time (except Mon and Tues) it is very very wrong. He wastes a lot of time on pointless shit like this. I’ve compiled the data on the last 30 days that he and I had worked together (alone), and I’ve typed and verified 83-85% of the scripts. There were days where he filled less than 100 scripts — that’s with a technician typing for him. He angers patients due to their long wait time, he can’t be left alone, and puts an unnecessary strain/load on me. The stats in DrugTopics said that a pharmacist makes FOUR errors in every 250 scripts. With me processing ~700 and him processing < 100, how is this safe for me or the patients *I* am caring for?
Jill, as I wrote above, works the bare minimum for benefits. She is much more efficient (when her mouth isn’t moving). Unfortunately, this soccer mom is exactly that — she’s a mom first and a pharmacist second. When the clock strikes noon, she leaves for lunch. When the clock strikes 5, she leaves for the day. Regardless of the load, or the day we’ve just had, she’s gone. She doesn’t recall the day before where I stayed after more than an hour to help her out.
TheCrown is the king. He’s very efficient, but he’s a huge asshole. He’s the manager at the store I’m at now. (I was the manager at my past location – more convenient location and I gladly gave up responsibility) I might have referenced David in the past — he was “the legend” I followed behind at the last location. TheCrown has me in the same boat. I cannot work with him. He’s the most passive aggressive cocksmoker I’ve ever worked with. If someone neglects to Dual-Bill someone’s Prevacid prescription to the coupon on file, he doesn’t say, “Hey, you forgot to Dual-Bill this. Be sure to check the notes in the comment field as you’re running through.” — He will look at the patient blankly when they ask about the copayment, say he didn’t fill it and knows nothing about it, then throw you under the bus once he sees you’re name attached to it. “Has anyone showed you how to dual bill these coupons?” I’ve been working with this company for a long as time…I’m well aware how to do that.
TheCrown doesn’t answer the phone when it’s really busy and ringing off the hook. He says aloud to the pharmacy staff, “What’s that ringing sound?”
When a patient comes to the counter and tells him they need to speak with him, he doesn’t walk up there and say hello. He tells them, “I can be with you in about 10 or 15 minutes. I got about 5 people I’m helping right now,” regardless of how busy he really is.
When pulling prescriptions out of the middle ’staging area’ to type, TheCrown never does big orders or transfers. I, Jack, or Jill get all the shitty shit.
For the volume we do, we are grossly understaffed. You know how we are staffed as far as pharmacists go. How many technicians does one need to fill 800 prescriptions. On a busy Monday, we have 2 dedicated cashiers and 4 technicians (one of them dedicated to our damn drive-thru). We have three computers that process prescriptions — and 3 printers. TheCrown’s printer works marvelously. The printer I am forced to use, however, is a piece of dilapidated shit. It needed replacing 6 months ago, but that’ll never happen because 1) it doesn’t inconvenience TheCrown and 2) It would come out of TheCrown’s bonus. He explains it away — telling me that I am not “fanning” out the pages as I load the printer. Ahh yes, that’s why this hunk of junk jams with every print. I’m not fanning the fucking pages. Give me a break. If it were his printer, there would be no issue. Why? Because he would either buy a new one or trade it out with the SECOND best printer in the building — which is how I ended up with what I have. Scenario: I HAVE a new printer. He HAS a problem. He HAS a new printer. I HAVE a problem. We traded verbs (and printers).
Our evening staff is exceedingly shitty. Why? Because he hires high school kids to work from when they get out of school until close at 8pm. You get what you pay for — and I get minimum wage intelligence with no customer service skills and no desire to learn any new tasks. (Why learn something new? You’ll just be expected to do that task in the future!) They are also complete smart asses, treat me with a huge amount of disdain, and leave as soon as the clock strikes 8. We usually get 3 or 4 HS students per night. They are fine for working a register, but they never know shit else. Why? Because TheCrown is so mean and hateful to them, they quit after a very short time. No one is around long enough to learn anything meaningful. Just when someone becomes somewhat valuable, he chases them away. I once had a girl with the makings of a KeyStone Tech. She was bright, pleasant, new how to speak to customers, how to diffuse situations, and she excelled at our someone difficult to master computer system. She got offered a new job at a competing pharmacy. She asked for 1 dollar more per hour — which would have taken her up to, MAYBE, ten dollars per hour. He said no…and away she went. I would have taken a TWO DOLLAR paycut to keep her — yet, he let her walk. Note: The Pharmacy that got her now has 4 or 5 of our employees. He waits until they’ve worked with us about 6 mos then propositions them with a similar job, less stress, nicer boss, and about a dollar more per hour…[He doesn't need any pharmacists :-( ]
The techs are just downright disrespectful to me. I’ve tried killing them with kindness. I’ve tried reprimanding inappropriate behavior. I’ve tried being a tattle tale. I’ve tried positive reinforcement (thanking them genuinely and buying lunch on my Saturday as I talked about in THE WORKER’S PLEA). I’ve tried giving them more tasks / responsibilities to keep them busy. They just don’t respond to anything. They treat him nicely enough to his face (and talk shit about him behind his back), but they treat me like shit to my face AND talk shit about me behind my back. They are insulting, rude, hateful little bitches and bastards. They challenge me for no reason. They question my decisions. They just don’t like me….and honestly, I don’t know why. One of these little assholes honestly had the nerve to tell me last week, when it was just the two of us standing on one side of the pharmacy processing prescriptions, “Ya know, Angriest, it’s kind of funny. I’m the only person in this pharmacy that can even stand being around you.” — I felt about 3 inches tall. I couldn’t believe it was said (to my face nonetheless)….what hurt me even more was that she honestly believed it to be true — regardless of whether or not it was. That was when I finally convinced myself it was time to go. It is time to move on. I’ve been called a lot of things. I’ve been talked to by customers like I was complete trash. Never before have I actually been hurt by it…never before have I actually believed it and been hurt by it….
Anyway….moving right along….
How many pharmacists in the world get their schedule for the next week on Wednesday or Thursday night? Is this not absolutely asinine? It’s ridiculous! I’ve complained a million times to him, the district manager, Jack and Jill, and no one cares. Jill is on a set schedule. She knows what she’s working — period. Jack is, obviously, an old man who lives and breathes pharmacy and doesn’t care. TheCrown doesn’t mind it because he WRITE THE FUCKER! If he has plans, he just schedules himself around it! Why would he care? The DM drew up a skeleton schedule for us to follow recently. I converted this text document into a nice orderly spreadsheet. I even went as far as scheduling hours to match Jill’s schedule and that it was fair for myself, Jack and TheCrown (open, close, and weekends etc). Was he pleased with that? Ohh hell no. That conflicts with the game he had running so long of getting whatever he wanted. Jack is such a pussy, he’d never speak up — that’s why everyone walks all over him. How did TheCrown deal with this? He told me that he didn’t know what I did to the schedule the DM wrote, but I had it ALL messed up. So, he tore it up and continued with the game he played for so long. I printed another copy and told him to fix the errors — then I made him compare the two with me standing there — and of course there were none. He followed it for some time. Now, we’re back to whatever he wants and I get screwed over. Fortunately, since I’m hosed most of the time, he has the courtesy to give me either a 3 day weekend every weekend or succumb to my every wish in terms of switchs, swaps, or days off. The shred of humanity shines through!
I’m working 4 ten-hour days….which is physically killing me. What sucks about my tens is that they turn in to 12’s. I come in early to get a little ahead and stay late past my time to get off (even if I’m not closing) because Jack can’t keep the store afloat on his own. Sometimes he begs me to stay late knowing that he’d be boned without me doing all the work. Or, I come in on time on days that I close and stay 2 hours after close to do the simple tasks required of me that we’d NEVER have time to do during the business day. [Like checking email, dealing with store to store inventory transfers, returning drugs that aren't moving to our DC, and any other task that requires full attention at one time rather than 10 second spurts all day long]Â —Â I hate it and so does my family.
When I wake up in the morning, I ache…I hurt…my first steps of the day are excruciating. This is likely due to the fact that I stand all day on hard ass floors with poor “padding” that is falling apart — again, because TheCrown doesn’t want to spend any money replacing those spongy carpets….resulting in heel spurs or plantar fasciitis for me.
Much like Jim P said in Drug Topics a month ago, I’ve got HURRY SICKNESS. I’ve always got to have 10 things on my plate. I’m rude to my family and friends. I’m impatient. I’ve got more problems than some of my patients, and it’s because my job is breaking me — physically, emotionally, psychologically.
What other options do I have? This job is killing me from the inside out. It’s ruining every aspect of my life. I thought I loved retail…I thought the money would make it worth it. It’s not.
When you begin to dread looking at the clock because you know it will show that impending doom is looming with each sweep of the second hand, it’s time to find something else, Anything else. Even another retail stint with a different motherland, especially if you believe your corporate virus has infected everyone it hires. But find something else. Even a change of scenery and co-workers can make a big difference.
I wish I could give you a hug, because I know how you feel, yet I don’t work in pharmacy. I just happen to have made a poor decision in working retail.
I concur. Similar problems in my pharmacy (except PIC has actually gotten nicer over the last year. Boggles my mind). My problem? I’m used to the paycheck now and don’t want to go back to 30k/yr, even though it would only last 1 year. On that note…off I go to my 12 hr Saturday shift. le sigh.
When I hit the send button the page came up expired so this may get sent twice.
I was taught 15 years ago as a pharmacy tech to kiss every pharmicist’s ass and to this day I dol I kiss the pharmicst’s ass, the customer’s ass and the front store supervisors and manager’s ass. In this economy I cannot find another tech job and also because I am 55 another company is afraid I will leave to retire (or die) and that in turn would make someone have to work harder. I won’t ever be able to retire because I have never made enough $$ for such a fantasy. I am grateful to have this ass kissing job but gratefulness and happiness are two separate things. I am pretty miserable most of the time and without a college degree I see no other alternative but to stay until I drop dead at which time they will have to make a coffin shaped for someone slightly bent at the waist kissing so much ass. Oh, and my pharmacists sit on a stool all day and check prescriptions or surf the web with their I-Phones. I sheild them from customers and if a customer has a question for the RPH I run interference for them and go back and forth exchanging messeges from customer to RPH and vice versa. Our pharmacists will not pick up a phone even if it is the MD line. I still have to answer all lines and then tell the RPH it is for them. So, with all due respect, I am shocked that you get the treatment you do from techs, or anyone else even The Crown
I will kiss ass til the day I die including all pharmacists.
I just left a PIC position from hell for a lower pay staff position at another store.There are still lots of problems but nicer people. No more 55 to 84 hour weeks, fat smelly dishonest bully tech or bleach blonde lumpy 20 something store manager plotting to make my life miserable. Pharmacy schools should be concentrating on management. We have let idiots become our bosses. I should have done this long ago–life is too short. Both my family and I deserve better as do you. Find another job.
Life is too short to hate your job.
800 a day? Damn no wonder you hate your job! Maybe you should consider switching to a low volume independent instead of a residency. Residents only get paid like 35k and if you love retail but want a little bit of clinical then independent may be perfect for you. You get all the love of retail with maybe a diabetes clinic on the side and a lot less stress.
You are not alone… your post reads like my life! Come to AZ and let’s start a pharmacy together, where WE make the decisions on what services to offer. Whaddaya say?!?!?!
Wow, are you sure you don’t work for the place I do? We usually don’t get our schedule (which runs from Fri to Thurs) until the day before it starts.
There are some real asshole pharmacies out there. Not pharmacists, not techs, but whole pharmacies. It’s a combination of the workers, the customer and the environment the store exists in that combines to make the situation unbearable. Change just one of those facets, and it does become bearable. Funny how that works.
I’m honestly in the same place you are right now. I’ve gotten to the point where after years of busting my ass, I had some interviews at pharmacy school. Yet I find myself questioning at times if I really want to do this.
It has been over a year since I worked with a pharmacist who gave a shit. They either don’t give a shit about the patients (which is terrible) or give a shit about the store (which makes them an asshole) which leads me to baby sit all day.
Tack on the fact we have oodles of shitty techs (it’s really a joy to walk in in the morning and have to fill vials and bags and shit because they didn’t do it the night before) and it’s gotten to the point where I can’t take it anymore.
If we break one more law, put one more patient in the hospital I think I may snap.
Maybe we should start our own store TAestP. Save our sanity a bit.
I think the best you can do is doing exactly what others do to you. Just verify minium, get out on time, be an asshole like they are. See how that helps
I was once in these situations. You are a professionall and do not let others, especially managers, treat you otherwise. When I was in these situations I would do whatever I wanted when I wanted just to piss the store manager and DM’s off.
For example I was put at a store and promised”clinical” and sonn found out that would not happen and was forced to be the only pharmacist for 14 hour shifts with a drive thru that only had a video monitor, not even a window. I refused to use it so when I got to work on my days I parked my truck in front of the drive-thru and put a big out of order sign on it. Then when the day was over I took it down. The manager and DM told me several times to not do that but I kept doing it. What were they going to do fire me? Then the store would not have enough pharmacists to stay open.
If I was you I would just fucking quit. Walk out one day and never come back. I have done it with no regrets. If they are going to treat you like shit then give it right back. There is such a shortage right now you can get a job anywhere. If you don’t like the new job quit that and move on to the next. I have done it more than once. Life is too short. Good luck.
TAP, this was your best post ever. For those who are entering the pharmacy blogosphere for the first time, print out this post and save it, because, if someone sees fit to bury you under a large enough tombstone, every word of this could become your epitaph, and you will know how you will be memorialized.
TAP, I don’t recollect—is your degree Pharm.D? If so, how many years have you been out of school? You CAN make the transition to hospital pharmacy, and you deserve it. My decision to change to hospital pharmacy in 1991 was the best single decision of my working life. It has paid me back many times over in peace aod comfort.
Should you decide to break you anonymity after you leave retail, please let me know. I would like to talk to you in person, either live or on the telephone. I’ve gone through a lot with you on this blog, that is for sure.
The Ole’ Apothecary
Wow, I am so sorry that they have gotten to you as well. You know, upper Managment. Sombody with your passion should be seen at Med School teaching Pharmacology:) Think about it! We see many 4 year interns at the Pharmacy who still have this innocent look on them. I always think about their choices and to really look at the older Generation of Pharmacists. With the hours they work, holidays and weekends they might as well work at a major factory for about the same pay and no responsibility. I still like it part time. I respect the Pharmacist. (Not the one who pushed me:)) Life is not all about the $$ you make. Your Family is what is important and if your wife is all right with a pay cut, so it will be. Whatever you are going to do, I wish you all the luck. Remember, the kids grow up so fast. My Baby is going to Notre Dame in 10 month. MY BABY!!!
I have been a pharmacist for over 50 years and if anyone asks me about going into pharmacy I tell them not to consider retail. Specialize or find a niche where you dont have corporates telling you how to practice pharmacy. They are only interested in numbers. I predict retail pharmacy is on the way out, because corporates are figuring out how to fill MORE rx’s with less help. Meaning more techs and central filling. So if you are going into pharmacy SPECIALIZE or use it as a stepping stone to another field.
This TaestP post has inspired the following:
http://oleapothecary.blogspot.com/2009/11/pharmacy-sixteen-tons-and-great-hate.html
listen..pharmacy sucks….all drugs should b otc…we don’t do shit except get yelled at about wait times or the cost….it’s all a money making business with drug companies on one side and insurance on the other. Doctors aren’t who they used to b. They are bought just like the politicians writing brand name drugs to people w/ medicaid when a generic will do just as good. Patent rules have to change. We’ve also essentially stopped evolution by putting medications only on prescription. If your dumb enough to take warfarin without knowing what it does and without md supervision….fuck ya. No more dumb ass genes in the gene pool.
Pharmacy life sucks, what can I say. Back when I started, I had high hopes of going on, being a pharmacist, and making a real difference in the lives of patients, and being a valuable member of the health care field. Then I saw the bullshit that the pharmacists got put through. Then I started to realize the hell that the techs were put through. At first I thought it was the pharmacy, so I changed pharmacies, hell I even changed states! I learned that the bullshit translates to wherever you may roam…
So I decided, hey, I’ll try HOSPITAL pharmacy! That has got to be better than retail, but then again, a swift kick to the balls with a steel-toed boot, followed by a barbed wire enema would beat retail any day.
I found that Hospital pharmacy, while somewhat better, is just a new breed of bullshit.
I wish you luck, in finding something that brings you fulfillment, and the type of honest contentment that a proper job should offer. No one should ever have to work in a job that makes them miserable, and that is doubly true when that person is responsible for the health and well-being of countless individuals.
Good luck, and hopefully, in whatever new job you find, you find reasons to keep on writing!
hey TAP i know how you feel because i loved the store i was working at however i was recently transffered to a new one. i hate it. but believe me just because one apple is rotten doesnt mean the whole tree is. you’re too much of a valuable asset for retail to stop working at one. ask for a transfer, hold your head high, and start writting a new chapter in the book of TAP.
Angriest. I sympathise, but you are partly responsible for your problems. Stop coming in early. Stop staying late. You are not the manager, but you are clearly carrying him. If you stop saving the situation by doing extra hours, he’ll have to go to bat over the staffing issue, or the pharmacy will loose customers, which will bring the workload down.
Spend as much time as you need with each patient, script, call, etc. If you only deal with 100, or 200, so be it. If the work doesn’t get done, not your problem. Tell patients honestly, “We’re pushed, it may be 2 hours.” “This isn’t going to be ready today.” “I’m sorry, we didn’t get to it, yesterday, it may be ready this afternoon.” If they transfer somewhere else, less scripts.
You are not helping your patients or yourself by overworking. You are risking their safety, and your own mental and physical health.
I know exactly what bus (almost) which TAPest is taking. It’s not so easy, Mallory, to jump up out of the seat and tell the driver to turn around and go another route.
Take some deep breaths, TAPest, before compromising integrity, and get off at the next stop.
Pull the cord, get up, steady your feet, the bus may lurch a bit, but it’ll grind to a halt to let you off. Turning around for a look over the shoulder, you’ll notice you’re not alone on your way.
i understand your frustrations very well. a horrible manager can destroy any peace/organization in a pharmacy. since i’m a newbie i float between a ton of stores. i drive all over the state and have seen a wide variety of stores. i worked at many different stores as an intern to pay my way thru school. the pharmacy manager and how they handle staff and the facility make a pharmacy. your manager is clearly not suited for this position.
take a few mental health days, i hear h1n1 is rampant…. this can be a good aliby for sick days.
i work overnights on a supposed set schedule, which is done at the district. i’m supposed to know weeks ahead of time, but lately every morning i get off i still don’t have a shift for the evening. i get called every day in the middle of the day (well night for me) that i now i have a shift on the other side of the state (2.5 hour drive). The weeks don’t always go the 7 on and 7 off schedule. I don’t really get to plan anything in my life now. It is extremely frustrating, but when I’m helping people I love it. Being overnights I get to help people and interact with them much more than if I worked during the day. Sure some stores really really suck, but I overall don’t hate it. I plan to stay and be a weirdo overnighter.
If you love retail, go to a different company. I’m sure that you could find a decent grocery store that does like 100 a day. Yes it might not be an independent, but your sanity is on the line.you deserve to enjoy your life.
good luck and I hope your work troubles get resolved and that you can enjoy pharmacy again.
Sounds like we’re in very similar boats, friend. My location is training 3 part-time (sometimes stretching into fulltime) techs, has 2 fully trained techs working 40+ a week, and one fully trained part-timer that works friday and saturday only, and requests off half the time! We do about 300 to 400 a day, with 2 pharmacists employed (1 per day, working 12+ hour shifts, 9am-9pm). I tell ya, our jobs are getting harder by the second, and nobody seems to want to reach out any more.
On top of all this, our warehouse is out of stock (or damn close to it) on labels, so right now, it’s anyone’s guess as to how the hell we’re gonna label the bottles that people bring in.
I’ve put in an application at a hospital about an hour away from where I live… I want out of this place so badly.
I am crossing my fingers for your transfer to go through…perhaps a store with less volume with keep you from waking up every day in dread =/
I’m also sorry for the techs that treat you like crap. That is unacceptable. From a tech’s point of view…pharmacists are the ones teaching us what to do…answering our questions to further our knowlegdge..and they are the ones who demand and deserve every bit of respect from us. If they feel the need to treat you like shit, then they should also feel the need to find a new job where they, in turn, can be treated like shit. This will hopefully make room for actual people who can do their job correctly and understand the hierarchy of a pharmacy without turning it into a gossip-center. Don’t worry…karma is a bitch, ain’t it?
Money will not make up for what you have to go through in retail. I did it for 7 years before I reached the point you are at now. I made the move to hospital pharmacy and have not regretted it one bit. I went to work at a community hospital to get experience, and although I would feel very comfortable going to a larger teaching hospital, I’m happy where I am. 10 years here and I’ve never looked back. Good luck to you Angriest, I wish you well with whatever you do!!
Angriest,
As a tech, I am saddened to hear of your treatment by other techs, other pharmacists & store management. I ran for the door a year ago & never looked back. May you find a new environment that respects you more & works you less – good luck in your search! Oh, and keep writing about those “special” customers that can ruin anyone’s day in a nanosecond.
Wow, I am glad you have lasted this long! I would have walked out the first day if I was treated this way.
I tried retail for 6 months and the 20 yr + tech that did nothing drove me crazy… so I also went to Hospital and I love it! No insurance, dosing on many drugs per protocol, ect… you should look into this. Good luck!
TAP, i totally understand your situation and just like you, i’ve stopped to think and now i can’t move forward any further. i am looking for answers, desperate for a change of scenery, a new career path including Hospital without the residency penalties….before i loose what’s left of my sanity! is it that hard to move to hospital after retail? we have similar situations, with 6 years of retail at the biggest and most horrible chains you’ll ever work for. i have been the pharmacy manager in a 600+ prescription/day store, no pharmacist overlap, only 3-4 techs a day, no breaks, and 1 staff pharmacist that keep changing every 6 months as no body can deal with it anymore…unfortunately except me. it’s an old pharmacy with a drastic need for remodeling that i had to do myself on my own time, no robot machinery, old monitors in the poorest areas of town, drug dealers, addicts, prostitution, gangs, and with 99% of my patients on medicaid, a majority barely able to articulate their name in English let alone knowing the last name of their grandson who the doctor was supposed to call but the medication got lost and medicaid should pay for my copay! makes sense? i’m used to it. .i’m still here because i’m fast i loved the challenge, and i loved my patients, no one treat them the way i do, and they love me back it’s an amazing feeling to know u’re important to someone …until you start having more work and less and less time for caring. more reports, more meetings, more ass licking supervisors, less help because of the area, and the numbers should always be growing. reading your posts and many others have been the biggest relief for me after long chaotic shifts. and now coincidentally u’ve had enough just like i did. hope this make u feel a little better. Move on!! retail and corporate might not be the only problem, i’ve started to look elsewhere, money is secondary even if they offer me double to stay, we deserve better, you should love what you do and not just deal with itevery day…keep us posted about your ideas and what you find and good luck.
Hey at least you’ll have a leg up over me on getting into a residency even though I graduate this May…they’ll dig your “experience” and see it as an asset that you know what you want, and that’s why you’re going into a residency at this later point…
I was seriously believing up until I read this post that you were my supervisor posting these blogs, but alas, you say that you are second-in-command, so that doesn’t pan out.
Anywho…I feel your pain. I work 28 hours/week at a store that does 700/day, am a full-time student finishing my BA in psychology, and I am doing a full-time internship at a residential drug and alcohol treatment facility. I sleep about 3-5 hours per night and sometimes eat at 6 in the morning and don’t get a chance to eat again until 11 at night. Oh, and I am married so I have a husband to do laundry and clean house for. I am hating life right now, so I know exactly what you are feeling! I just keep telling myself: “Graduation is in May. It will all be over soon”.
Learn from Oprah and Love yourself more. 800 scripts a day is unreal, why don’t you have robots? Anyway, I repeat love yourself more.
Sorry everything sucks right now – but for what it’s worth, you’re an awesome writer and I’m quite sure I could work with you (if, you know, I was a pharmacy type person and all). If you quit your job, please don’t quit your blog.
I’ve read your blog for quite a while and have been wondering when a post like this would happen. As someone who made the decision to leave a great paying pharmacy job to go back and do a residency, I’ll tell you it can be done. Is it rough for that year? Yep. Have I ever regeted it? No. I still work a >40 hour work week, but I’m appreciated, respected and never dread going into work. I think you may have some options outside of residency, too- specialty pharmacies (usually closed door and less volume); infusion pharmacy (may want to make the jump to hospital for at least a year to get some IV experience and then start looking); LTC consulting; Work at home (various types of positions exist from hospitals to PBMs); VA (depending on the VA, clinical posiions may be filled internally regardless of residency experience). Whatever you decide, try not to let the money dictate your decision if you can avoid it, because you’re probably being paid very well now and you hate your job. Best wishes to you.
This post made me cry. I’m sitting here at approximately 11:00am EST, knowing that when I arrive at work at 1:00pm, the place will be an absolute disaster. I too work with a PIC who doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. I do all the ordering, process all the recalls, do all the paperwork, and when I’m there I check all the prescriptions. I got written up by my DM yesterday for making 5 errors in the past 12 months. Thankfully, none were very serious errors at all. Sitting there in the break room as he outlined how the steps to successfully fill a prescription, all I could think is that I should be getting an award for carrying this entire pharmacy on my back, not a reprimand.
I started seeing a therapist because my boyfriend and family were so concerned (and a little more than annoyed) about me and with me. Everyone jokes on the blogs about drinking after work, but in all seriousness it’s started to become a real problem for me.
I understand where you are coming from, I feel your pain, and I thank you for writing this blog. Truly, I feel like sometimes, the pharmacy blogosphere is the only place I can turn. You all (TAestP, TAP, Jim, DrugMonkey, Pharmacy Chick) should know that on some (most) days, you’re my saviors.
Jim,
I work as tech support for our building, among my other varied jobs. Printer technicians (the people who are trained by the printer manufacturer), the printer mfrs, and paper mfs, all say put the 8.5×11 paper in label side up. Paper has different grains on each side. If you put it the wrong way in, you get the leading cause of paper jams.
Also, fanning the paper really does help, per the same sources above. During the mfg process, paper pages can sometimes get stuck together and fanning helps separate pages. So, TheCrown actually does have that part right.
When did it started that the Profession of being a Pharmacist was looked at as being the way it is now? Why do Pharmacist’s not stand up against this form of factory work???It used to be whatever the Pharmacist said was “the word.” Now it is somebody in an Office who dictates what a Pharmacy team must do. They are sucking all of us out.
I’m feel especially bad for you. I have a pharmacist that gets nothing accomplished but I have a great pharmacy manager that ican go to with a problem and he will address it in a non-aggressive way. You need to get out of there or all of your life will be completely sucked out of you. I can believe how rude your techs are to you either. I hope you get a better pharmacy soon to work in cuz it’s not worth you having a heart attack one day in tge middle of you consulting a patient. Good luck with everything!!
I have been there, 10 years ago on my way to the pharmacy I had to pull over to vomit, I hated going in that bad. I got lucky, I applied for a job that had a laundry list of requirements, the only one I met was licensed as a pharmacist. During the interview processed I assumed they were only interviewing me to check off the boxes because I was clearly not qualified, thinking I had no chance at the job I was extremely relaxed and had a good time. They surprised me and offered me the job; I took a 10K pay cut. I learned my new job, got a few promotions, and now make significantly more than I would at retail, no nights, no weekends, no holidays, no wanting to vomit on the way into work. I know this will not last forever and at some point I will have to do retail again, but I am enjoying it while it lasts. Keep you eyes and ears open, if a job is open, go after it even if it is out of your comfort zone.
Grow a pair. Say its you or the techs. Techs are a dime a dozen now, we get about 3 a week looking for jobs.
If you are bailing on retail, who’s going to fight the good fight against drugnazi with me?
I’ll never quit. Even if I get a job, I’ll work somewhere in retail part time — that’s a given.
As far as firing the techs, I could do that myself — That’d be the easiest thing. The bitch of it is, teaching people how to function in this pharmacy isn’t easy. Once someone is fully trained and can work on their own, they are relatively secure in their employment.
If we did fire these little hoochies, this PIC would just hire 2-3 more hoochies. He doesn’t hire the most qualified. He doesn’t hire the person that gives the best interview. He hires the one that is the prettiest or the one with the biggest tits. There are no males in the pharmacy but myself, him, and SlowPoke….you do the math.
Hey- I totally hear you. I switched jobs with the same company, got my evaluation for the “new” job- same level clinical pharmacist b/c I was in it for 90 days-if I had stayed in my old position I was told I would have had an exceptional, but since I was only in the new job for 90 days- got a fully successful…because I didn’t fulfill all the shit I should have had a year to do- but don’t worry she said- you are a top producer, you rock, I am so thrilled you are here. This year- walk in for the eval- guess what? – Super says: “Wow. you kick ass-you do a ton more work than everyone – look at these numbers! You really work your ass off….end of evaluation, I am so sorry, you missed an exceptional by 0.01 NO FUCKING SHIT- is that even statistically significant I say? No fucking shit!!!!- she says, I am really sorry- you get a fully successful, but you are one of the best I have and you are awesome BCPS, memeber of several committees, officer in local pharmacy assn…but still only “fully successful” along with the guy that does 1/3 of the work, makes the same money, doesn’t give a shit, comes in late, leaves right on time (never stays late) and takes 10 smoke breaks. Suddenly, it dawns on me since this has happened more than once…what the f am I doing?—OK- I am not going to stop caring for my patient at all, but guess what, my numbers are going to drop dramatically, will I do MUE’s? Probably not, you do 2 you get exceptional ( I did 3) and this year you don’t have to do any to get fully successful- bare ass minimum is coming from me- but I am still putting my patients first, just not doing all that extra shit that is supposed to set you apart and make you exceptional, because they always find a way to make you only fully successful. That way you don’t get a bonus.
Hopefully the residency will work for you- I didn’t do a residency- one of the few clinical Pharm.Ds at my place (BCPS too) – when we meet to look at the residency apps- they love the kids with the 4.0s and kiss ass shit- the real world people who have work experience between pharmacy school and the residency application are looked at like they are a piece of shit- sorry that is the way it is- I always say but the work experience the maturity level are such pluses—is it really so bad to go to work and then do a residency? We get so many snotty prima donnas in the residency itself. Since the pharmacy schools seem to think the only way to be is clinical- now a general residency is NOT good enough you have to have that AND a specialty residency- so becareful out there- hopefully someone will realize work experience is better than residency- and that retail pharmacists work their asses off and pay more dues than an actual hospital pharmacy resident one day.
I am concerned about the well being of many of our colleagues. The antiquated archaic laws delineating how long a pharmacist can eat lunch (30 minutes) despite having to work > 12 hours in some instances with no break. The danger to patients, whom rely on an avid health professional to dispense their medications correctly, despite the pharmacists working for so long with no breaks. Not forgetting what people so non chalantly call “retail burnout”, with all the detrimental health effects (depression, anxiety, arthritis of the knees, DVT’s, even PTSD are but a few), are expected/accepted hazards for pharmacists. Working in understaffed high stress conditions, (and the understaffed scenario is endemic throughout retail), because of a law that says a max of 2 techs per pharmacist (in some states) used by large retail corporations to justify their greed. Pharmacists don’t even get hazard pay for working with substances for which they may get shot or killed over. Just the other day I read an article where some robbers in upstate NY cut the pinky off of a pharmacist who wouldn’t open the narc safe.
I feel like many of these organizations who say they are working on our behalf have dropped the ball and haven’t even known where it’s been for years.
Then there’s the foreign pharmacist. With the saturation point nearing it’s mark, the lowering of pharmaceutical elegance standards, and the inability for home grown pharmacists to retain adequate positions, this needs to be said and addressed now in the light when it was once talked of in hushed tones and back rooms. The economy, the profession, and the individual cannot handle the onslaught of outsourcing and standard lowering (and if you want to know what I mean there’s a number of them but I’ll start with English..the grammer, the spoken word…communication). I don’t have anything against immigrants as I came from immigrants, but it’s tough to see new grads who went to school here with exhorbitant student loans and whose parent/s have always paid taxes here, being stepped over because of competition from people willing to take lower pay and whose abilities are determined by a watered down process meant to fill the ranks in a time when we did need foreign help. That time is over now………………..we must begin mobilization to increase our QOL….our QOL…. and adopt the old 1776 original American flag moniker DONT TREAD ON ME!!!!!!!!!!!!
What do you all think?
The saturation point in Jersey is here folks.
and tap….either take command or be trampled. You are the one with the credentials, the brains, and the actual care for our profession. It would be their immense loss and uncompromising idiocy to lose you. You have the power. I think their should be a union of some sort. I’m tired of this oligarchic idiocracy that exists in our once beatiful sodapop community pharmacies where you could say I’m not dispensing this prescription without the pimple faced high school dropout manager from the front almost commanding you to fill it. Or the newcomer DM who seen snow in movies berating you in broken english. I can’t take retail because of the respect factor which is non existent and the fast food far from pharmacy attitude the management types have. My name is CP3O can I mix your med in this mortar, fip your burger, or take your order?????????????????????????????????????
I may be one of those slower careful to a fault pharmacists like Jack, but I’m new so at least i have an excuse, and i’m trying to get faster. But seriously, i’m getting burned out diong just 1 hundred something to 200 scripts a day, how the hell can some of you guys do 500?? After working for only a few months i have anxiety and stress problems as well as sleep problems. On my days off, all i can do is sleep in or spend my whole day in bed recuperating. Yesterday i didn’t have time for a lunch break at ALL!! I ate at 7 before i left for work and then at 11 when i got home from work. Yes, i work 14 hour days. It would be bearable if i had good quality techs but most of them are either new and completely clueless/slow or don’t give a shit
TAestP,
wow ive been gone for awhile working my own ass off this fall and haven’t been keeping up with my blog reading (or writing). Dude, you are me! everything you wrote could have come from my pen. Well written my friend and I hope you (and I) get out of retail as soon as our feet can carry us!
I agree with “Tired”, because I can’t even comprehend how some pharmacists do 500+ scripts a day. I have been licensed just over a year, and still get stressed when we approach about 130 a day. That being said, a job with a lower volume grocery chain has huge advantages over the disaster described in this blog. I turned down Wal Mart and CVS last year, even though my current job pays less. Some advantages:
I always know my days off well in advance, since I alternate days with my partner.
No drive through.
Zero store management interference.
One or at most two techs at a time to oversee.
Did I mention 130 scripts a day?
Yes, of course there are disadvantages. I never get a break, and I get out late sometimes, but overall it’s ok. If I was in that 800 script disaster store, I would have quit last year and would probably be in the looney bin. I would say don’t give up on retail until you have explored less hectic locations or chains.
i completely sympathize with you. i’ve been through almost the same experience in 4 different pharmacies. i’ve been trying to get out of retail for about 4 years now, with no luck. hospitals won’t hire me without any hospital experience. how asinine is that?!? i’ve had increasing emotional problems, which is affecting my marriage. i’ve only been a pharmacist for 5 years! i feel like i am trapped in a hole with no way out. sometimes i feel like just giving in to the customers, giving them whatever they want, then maybe i’ll lose my license and the responsibility that comes with it. retail is definitely not worth this!
You are right to some extent. There already is saturation in the North East and computer technology is making some tasks in our position/s easier. Pharmacy though will never be a dead end because lucky for all of us pessimism doesn’t effect the law that certain things need to be done by a licensed pharmacist. We are privy to dirty little secrets because of our knowldege though, and these include that not all physicians are competent at their prescribing habits, patients with even good information do not have the capacity to make correct decisions, and lastly, and this should be the norm, there are pharmacists who do not let the corporations dictate their practice thus making them immune to the fast food robotisysm many of our matrixed (as in the movie) colleagues are indentured into. Say what u will but it is UN AMERICAN to be an automaton, it is also UN AMERICAN to be a defeatist. Call congress and tell em there’s a saturated market here so they can stop outsourcing our positions to foreign nationals who can’t communicate to there own patients the simplest of pharmaceutical jargon. There are many American nationals who are taking a back seat to people who just started paying taxes and whose allegiance is murky at best. Don’t believe the hype…
You know what we are the biggest assholes…. if this was 1776 and the British(no offense to our British allies) were giving it up the ass, we’d fight right, nooooooo, we’d be bending over and asking for more with no vaseline and a cat o’ nine tails for rasp. ( I meant to say their in my previous rant) These so called organizations for pharmacists dont do shit. We should all unionize then they’d all be runnin scared… when youre greedy dm shows up say “unionize” or say union backwards or something………………..seriously, pharmacy is health hazard profession. I’m sooo tired of putting up with all the shitt and hearing it from my brethern. You all nag and bitch but it’s your fault… you let it keep happening…you let them treat you that way….and for all you who wanted to do something in the world..you know make a difference, why don’t you change that interns life by protesting the horrendous conditions in which we work. IT IS NOT SAFE>>> I REPEAT NOT SAFE FOR ALL. WHERE ARE THE PHARMACY BOARDS????? Where are the organizations?????
To Jane: I am so sorry to read about your pain. Would it maybe be possible for you to go teach at a local University? I just work part time as a Tech and I am always amazed as to the responsibility all of you Pharmacists have. If you obey what upper Management wants you to do you open yourself up for mistakes and you are being told that you should have used your professional judgment, if you do use it you are black listed and put into a store nobody wants to be and more.Most customers are a pain in the A@@ and I am wondering many times WHAT raised them. However, I do blame Pharmacists for most of their problems. I am sorry! You all should stand your ground. This is easy for me to say since I have nothing to loose. My Pharmacists love working with me since I will tell customers (In a nice way) what they can do with their attitudes. I do not need the job for survival since my hubby helps pay for med school and other stuff:) To all of you Pharmacists out here: You are the PROFESSIONALS, you have the highest education in a field not the upper Management and for sure not the Techs. If a Tech is even trying to run something tell them to SHUT UP and go back to take the trash out. There is a hierarchy and you Pharmacists better believe you are the one running the show. Sorry I am blabbering here, all night at the Lab and I get goofy when I am tiered:) Have a better day!
WOW, you just described the pharmacy I used to work at exactly! You’re not alone! Go into clinical pharmacy!!! Much more rewarding!
Wow…. that was me when I first graduated and took the retail job. I am now on the dark side (working in medical affairs in Pharma), pay is better, benefit is better, but the most important thing is the quality of life. Good luck, Pal, I say get out when you can before it’s too late.
I’m sorry, I feel your pain and can sympathize. Nothing is worse than being talked to like you are a piece of shit that walked in off the street ands omeone decided to give you a pharmacist license. And the worst part is…I don’t think anyone realizes we dont get lunches, those NYS maditory 15 minute breaks…dinner,etc , my whole body aches from standing all day…Im beat too, and i have to say…techs are like gold. I would never disrespect them because i’d be lost without them, but they better treat me with the same respect!
That’s why I only lasted a year in retail full-time. Came back to hospital and now just pull a couple of retail shifts a month.
I hope things get better for you! I wish your techs could trade places and work at my pharmacy for just one day. I promise their behavior would improve greatly after my boss crushed their souls instantaneously. Honestly, I probably would enjoy my job if it were not for that tyrant. Although I am not an emotional person, he aggravates me to the point of tears a couple times a month. Only 3 years until I finish my degree and masters. Can’t wait to get away from pharmacy hell! What’s it like to work in a mail-order pharmacy? Honestly, I feel like things would be much better if the customers were taken out of the equation. Some are nice but far too many are assholes.
Like many others here, your story was my story. Working at the pharmacy impacted my life more negatively than I realized until I stopped and went back to grad school for another degree…now I’m a college professor. There’s a lot of grading, the pay is less, but no nights, weekends, holidays, or summers. And I’m a lot happier. Good luck!
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