Health

When I approached the pharmacy - the line of patients/customers numbered 7. They were either waiting to pick up a prescription like I was or they had new prescriptions which needed to be filled.

There was only one pharmacist on duty at the time. She was accompanied by one pharmacy technician or apprentice. Both were busy - tending to one patient apiece. The pharmacist was stationed behind a computer screen either busily entering a new prescription; checking on refills; having to fill out a screen of Rx insurance info - to please the insurance companies.

In the background there was the incessant and constant announcement every few minutes over a loudspeaker in the pharmacy that there were 6 calls on hold waiting to speak to someone in the pharmacy.

Interesting the call volume announcements kept on piling up until there were at least 11 patients on hold.

Talk about stress. How would you like to be responsible for all those patients, prescriptions, calls, questions, etc - while giving out instructions to each of those patients as to how they should take their meds?

It is insane that these chain pharmacy companies run their pharmacies with such a poor staffing arrangement. It's no wonder the pharmacists are under stress and susceptible to making errors.

The pressure that these chains put on their employees is enormous and their should be standards set as to how many employees need to be working in such busy pharmacies.

The only thing the management of these chains care about is their profit.

And its not like their is a shortage of pharmacists. In fact - there are more pharmacy schools in the country now then there were just 20 years ago or so.
If the chains can't hire enough employees to safely manage their pharmacies - it's because either they don't pay enough or the word has gotten out that the pressure is just too much to bear working for them and they would be putting their careers in peril.

I ask you - thinking about what the employees of that pharmacy faced while I was waiting to be taken care of by them - could you handle the pressure that they were under?