The Pharmacy Chick

I got to work today to an unusual calmness around the store.  There weren’t too many in the que and the store was rather quiet , even for 8 am.  I found out later that there was no school today.  I checked the calendar and noted NO specific holiday.   I asked somebody in the know (parent with kids) why there was no school today and he said “Teacher work day”….  wassat??  “teacher work day without kids around to get their stuff done” 

I thought about that for a minute and thought “WOW !! I need one of those!”.. lets pretend for a while:

First day of every month is Pharmacist work day.  No  new prescriptions will be filled (tho I can see keeping the que empty)  No patients will be seen.  No phone calls will be answered.  On this pharmacist work day,  the Chick and her staff will handle all the tasks that have to be squeezed in will be done as they should be.  The schedule will be written.  The shelves will be checked for outdates.  Inventory counts and updates will be made.  The returns will be processed.  The corporate reports will be collected, signed off and filed.   The inspection reports will be filed. The invoices would be reconcilled.  All the rx’s would be in order and shelved. The counters would be dusted and washed off.  These things alone would take up the entire day.  And they would get done!!

What a novel idea..  I have heard of Dr’s offices that have days where no patients are seen, but work gets done.  Why not here? 

Yea…I know, it will never happen… but WHAT A GREAT IDEA!

Tags: pharmacy life, rare days | |

If you are old enough to have watched the Twilight Zone, you can totally relate to this day:  Nothing bad happened.  All of my employees showed up to work. None had any issues to report from over the weekend.  Nobody’s babysitter bagged, no one’s car quit. Nobody had any fights with their spouse/boyfriend/domestic partner. The phone didn’t ring off the hook. People came in and picked up prescriptions that were filled (not those not ready, waiting for inventory, etc)  Nobody handed me “problems” to fix.  I didn’t find any new and crazy policy in the company email box.  My order arrived on time and everything I wanted was in it. (except ciprofloxacin..WTF is up with that anyway?).  Everybody was polite and no one gave me any crap.  I didn’t have to OVER-multitask to keep up.  My IVR worked (it has been real iffy lately) and all the networks were paying claims.. no outages. I got off at 4 pm and walked out with NObody stopping me to drag me into a long winded discussion about some prescription issue.

AND to make it even better?  I dont have to come back until Thursday.

Please God, do not let the other shoe drop!

Tags: pharmacy life, rare days | |

It must have been “love your pharmacist” week.  I don’t know where it came from but I received a host of lovely compliments about me and my contributions to the store I work in.  This came at a crucial time for me because as you know, I struggle with the joy in my job (there isn’t any) and whether I really make a difference in the long run.

One lady came in and after picking up her rx said “Pharmacy Chick, I want to tell you something…you make my life easier. I never have to worry about  my prescriptions…and that is a huge relief for me”  I never thought about that.  For somebody who doesn’t take much more than heartburn and allergy meds, I don’t think much about those who have LOTS of meds.  They make several trips to the pharmacy a month, sometimes a couple of times weekly.  Many have rx’s that need a Dr ok every month.  Others are special orders.  Some have complicated ordering procedures or sigs.  I am grateful that she told me that.  It warmed my heart.

Later a lady came in with her mother. “OH, Am I glad to see you!!  We were afraid you had left!, you have been gone much this month!”  (I have taken some vacation in July)… I told her that as long as she sees the picture on the wall, I am coming back.  She said  “I checked that picture every time I came in, so I knew you had to be coming back…PLEASE, never leave!  “  Wow.  That blew me away.  They are great people, but certainly not high maintenance.  Again,  it came out of the blue. 

A day later a man came in and after I counseled him on his rx, he said  “Chick,  it is certainly nice to see you here.   Everything is ok when I know you are here”.  Geez, what is this?

These things gave me reason to go on.  Labor cuts, stress, longer work days…all of these chip away at my morale.  I have been jerked around by corporate lately so much so that I wonder if I could ever stand up straight again.  But here I am, still gutting it out.  I realize I want to help people.  I like helping people.  I hate corporate CRAP.  I dont give a flying sh*t about their labor models, their programs, their coupons, their machinations that beat me up.  And despite the losers who try to con controlled subs out of us, I realize it repeats itself at every pharmacy in the nation.

When it comes right down to the basic components, I want to help people live better. 

And for that, Thanks to those customers who lifted my spirit.

Tags: customer interactions, pharmacy life, rare days | |

Wow, got home from work and upon looking back, today was pretty spectacular. I didn’t have to call one insurance company. I didn’t have one pissed off customer. Everybody I called to relay some news was ok with the message. Nobody was trying to drug seek on me and nobody tried to get me to price match CostCutter Drug. No one passed any $30 coupons for their HCTZ script transfer.

I had few waiters, and everybody was patient. Nobody whined about the cost. There was no email from corporate revealing a new torture (policy) they were inflicting upon me. All my split bills worked. I ate my lunch in relative peace. All my C-2 back counts were perfect. I even got in some items from the wholesaler that had been backordered. Woo Hoo!

I was waiting for a white dove from heaven to descend upon me and the Lord say “This is Pharmacy Chick, with whom I am well pleased” Thats how nice the day was. Even Chick’s boss granted her an audience and a special favor. I’m thinking “there’s nothing blogworthy today…” And, then I realized that the day itself was rare enough to BE blogworthy.

Wonder when the other shoe is gonna drop…..

Tags: pharmacy life, rare days | |