Pharmacy God is starting to feel the burnout again. It happens from time to time. It happens to all of us.
Usually it doesn't happen until late-spring, right before vacation time. But this year it's coming early. And I know why..... I'm overworked.
I know, I know. Join the
frickin' club. We're all in the same boat.
Two years ago, when pharmacists still had some say in the budgeting process for my employer we determined what the minimum staffing requirements were for the pharmacy. Since my pharmacy isn't high-volume, we only have one pharmacist working at a time. We were concerned about the tech situation.
After some "discussion" on the issue, I (with my store manager's help) was able to keep the hours that we had proposed. The corporate officer at the meeting agreed with our rationale. Yippee! We got what we wanted.
But this year corporate stuck back. Even though we've seen steady gains in script counts, our gross profits have fallen (whose hasn't) and as a result we've had to make the cuts.
To the tune of over 24% of the tech hours that were determined to be the minimum necessary being cut. Currently there is a technician in the pharmacy a little over 50-percent of the time.
So for the rest of the time that we are open, there is a single pharmacist to cover the drop-off, the pick-up, the register, the OTC area (since nobody is ever scheduled there), five phone lines, blah, blah, blah....
I've pissed.
I've moaned.
I've pissed AND moaned.
You know where that has got me. I even composed a nice little email to the powers-that-be addressing many of the issues. Let's just say I'm not holding my breath for a response.
So tomorrow I'm gonna grab the chainsaw and be a lumberjack for the day. Six or eight hours out in the woods ought to get this pharmacist back in the right mindset. Who knows, I may even print off a picture of our corporate officers and throw a hatchet or two at them.
Usually it doesn't happen until late-spring, right before vacation time. But this year it's coming early. And I know why..... I'm overworked.
I know, I know. Join the frickin' club. We're all in the same boat.
Two years ago, when pharmacists still had some say in the budgeting process for my employer we determined what the minimum staffing requirements were for the pharmacy. Since my pharmacy isn't high-volume, we only have one pharmacist working at a time. We were concerned about the tech situation.
After some "discussion" on the issue, I (with my store manager's help) was able to keep the hours that we had proposed. The corporate officer at the meeting agreed with our rationale. Yippee! We got what we wanted.
But this year corporate stuck back. Even though we've seen steady gains in script counts, our gross profits have fallen (whose hasn't) and as a result we've had to make the cuts.
To the tune of over 24% of the tech hours that were determined to be the minimum necessary being cut. Currently there is a technician in the pharmacy a little over 50-percent of the time.
So for the rest of the time that we are open, there is a single pharmacist to cover the drop-off, the pick-up, the register, the OTC area (since nobody is ever scheduled there), five phone lines, blah, blah, blah....
I've pissed.
I've moaned.
I've pissed AND moaned.
You know where that has got me. I even composed a nice little email to the powers-that-be addressing many of the issues. Let's just say I'm not holding my breath for a response.
So tomorrow I'm gonna grab the chainsaw and be a lumberjack for the day. Six or eight hours out in the woods ought to get this pharmacist back in the right mindset. Who knows, I may even print off a picture of our corporate officers and throw a hatchet or two at them.