Open Doors

[goddessofcake]

I probably failed to mention the other day during my summation of life that I also work part-time as a pharmacy technician. So I'm doing that. It's not a bad gig, but lately I've just been so stressed with the constant flux. It's not too bad when I work on filling the prescriptions because I don't have to worry so much about interacting with

Comments

[goddessofcake]

It's not a bad gig, but it's stressful. A lot of customers don't understand how much is going on to get their prescriptions ready and what can possibly go wrong in the process. In 20 minutes (ideally, but not realistically), we get the dropped off prescription, confirm we have all the information we need on the person, scan the prescription into our system, double-check everything, type up the directions and so forth, send it on to the pharmacists to check to make sure we did that right, and then it get processed in our system. If it's insurance, then the insurance either lets us put it to the next step of filling the prescription, or it gives us an error that we need to try to remedy (and that can be a multitude of things). If it's cash, less chances of errors (although it still happens). Prescriptions go to the filling station, and they get filled (hence the name). (Sometimes we can't fill prescriptions though, like if we realize we're low on stock. Then we have to order it and inform the customer, and they either choose to accept a partial fill, to wait on the full prescription, or to take their prescription to another pharmacy.) Then the pharmacists double-check that, bag the prescription, and then it gets checked out.

If we're not terribly busy, that's none of that is a big deal. However, we're a tourist town, and we're frequently busy, with the phone constantly ringing with questions about prescriptions, refill requests, doctors phoning in prescriptions, and so forth. The drop-off line feels endless at times, which prevents one from inputting prescriptions, which delays the whole process and increases the wait time. A lot of people are irresponsible and get angry at the pharmacy for "allowing" them to run out of refills and urge us to contact their doctors for new prescriptions. People complain about the long wait and make empty threats to go to another local pharmacy that professes to only have a 15-minute wait (which would be amazing to me, but if that's true, it's only because they have very little business).

Anyway. I like the people I work with, and I like exercising my brain with calculations (until I get frustrated and realize that I hate math). I don't like angry customers.

[johhnymayhem]

Sheesh. Terrible customers are everywhere. @_@