The Word of the Day is surprise

[i_like_clouds]

So my word of the day is surprise simply because I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved my FIRST EVER dispensing shift as a pharmacist. I've been licensed for a little over a month now, but all of my work has been as pharmacy resident Jen, not good ol' fashioned Kroger pharmacist Jen. Needless to say, I was terrified going into it. It was a Saturday shift so I was the only pharmacist there which means that I had to both open and close the pharmacy. Not terrible in itself, but terrifying because you have to both work the gates and the alarm system. I managed to do it though without the alarms going off....whew! The shift was ten hours which is super long! Once I was there though, time flew. It was definitely a slow store, but busy enough to keep me and the tech going. It was nice towards the end of the day cause I was able to sit down in spurts which allowed my feet to not be crying. Whenever customers had questions I was able to walk out with them in the aisle and talk to them about whatever products they had questions about which is invaluable. I don't know if a lot of people understand how taking that little bit of extra time to be there with the customer really matters. I guarantee you that many of those people will continue shopping at Kroger simply because they know that they get good customer service and they see that their pharmacist really cares. Patients called me by name like six or seven times which was awesome. It's still weird to hear, but it means they're paying attention to you and appreciate you. At least that's how I'm taking it. One guy came in with a question about a multivitamin for his wife who is undergoing treatment for cancer. I offered whatever advice I had, but at the end I told him that I would keep her in my prayers. I've only said it a couple times to patients, but the impact it has is DRASTIC. The customers are just so sincerely appreciative when you say that. They say thank you and you can see in their eyes that they know you mean it. It matters.

I was driving home that night and I felt so good about myself. For the first time since I've been a real pharmacist, I worked and loved what I was doing. I felt like I impacted people and used my license and knowledge to help. I filled prescriptions. I did the pharmacist-ly record keeping. I got along with the tech. I was a pharmacist and it was awesome.