Pharmacy techs and pharmacists are people too.
I know it seems like an odd thing to say, but it has to be repeated sometimes, especially when someone in the pharmacy makes a mistake that manages to leave the building.
The expectations of a member of the pharmacy staff are tremendously high. Our customors/clients rely on us for a number of things, and justifiably get upset when we let them down somehow. We're supposed to be doing something that helps them live a better life, so when we fail in that regard, it can be quite a blow.
But we're still human. Humans make mistakes. People aren't perfect and never will be. The notion that a pharmacy staff member will NEVER make a mistake and shouldn't is a flawed one in itself.
Yet every day somewhere someone is getting ripped a new one because someone doesn't understand this or think it applies to us.
I've had people go so far as to say that we're not allowed to make mistakes.
It's sad that some people are like that because a majority are at least understanding about what happened. Some even make jokes about it. They realize that we aren't perfect and when you consider how many prescriptions get filled without there being a mistake, it's pretty remarkable.
Let's face it, if your mechanic had the success rate pharmacies have for accuracy, you'd be ecstatic.
But that's not the case. We hear how horrible it was for us to let that mistake leave the store, how they might have to change pharmacies now because we can't be trusted, how we tried to hurt them, hell, sometimes we tried to kill the patient.
Then there are the extreme cases like when people actually do get hurt or even die from a mistake, but those are incredibly rare. Unfortunately, when they do happen, someone feels the need to exploit the tragedy for their own personal gain, such as a politician recently did in Ohio. Yes, it was tragic what happened, but his actions showed it was clearly an effort to raise his political stock.
For the most part, the mistakes are minor and they are caught.
What causes the mistakes though?
From what I've seen, having too much to do in too little time is the biggest culprit. In my retail job, we're prone to doing 500-600 scripts a day. Now, if properly staffed, that's not a problem to do and we're generally efficient. However, that's the case anymore. Hours have been cut, new programs have been instituted, and we no longer have enough people to efficiently do the job. Instead of just having to type and fill the scripts, we now have to call when they might be due or past due, call when the script is done, call when to make sure they're taking their new meds the way they're supposed to, and a number of other things as well.
In short, you now have to try and fill as fast as you can to take care of the people in the store while doing all the side jobs they want you to do, and it better be done in less than 15 minutes no matter how busy you are, or how many times the phone rings, or how often the drive-thru goes off.
It has caused a lot of techs at least to flee the retail scene for jobs in more private settings where there isn't as much pressure to be telemarketers on top of filling medications. Yes, it can still be busy, but we have a little more time to get things done and make sure it's right.
Of course other things can affect accuracy. Problems in your personal life are usually the next big culprit. Let's face it, it can be a challenge to do your job effectively when you're worried about something going on outside of work.
Regardless of what it is, it's on each of us to do the best we can to prevent making a mistake. Slow down if needed, take an extra second to double check the NDC, double check the count, make sure you typed in the prescription right.
Mistakes will still happen though.
We're only human, right?
