Stare Because You Care

"Ok, everyone look at the person next to you and keep staring until I tell you to stop."

This was an activity we participated in at recent "mandatory" meeting at the corporate office. This was an exercise The Authorities did to help use up time to turn a 3-4 hour meeting into an 8 hour meeting. And of course, since The Authorities view us as children instead of healthcare professionals, what better way to get a point across than to use a Kindergarten-type activity?

The point of the exercise was to show us how two minutes of staring at each other feels like it is a lot longer than two minutes. On average (apparently they've spent money studying this instead of giving us more tech hours) a customer has to wait two whole minutes before being acknowledged at Goofmart Pharmacy. Oh, the horror!

"Did you feel uneasy? Did you feel ignored? Imagine how your customers feel while they're waiting to be recognized in your pharmacy!"

Of course, nothing was mentioned about the 2-3 minutes WE (both pharmacist/tech AND patient) have to wait on occasion when our computer software freezes when we're trying to input a new prescription. This happens EVERY day and most often during the critical drop off/pick up times.

Nothing was mentioned about the FIVE minutes the entire workflow is halted (for patients and pharmacy) when we call for a manager override and have to wait before a manager gets to the pharmacy. Talk about feeling "uneasy."

I wonder if the brain trust actually thought about WHY people would be waiting for help at the pharmacy to begin with? Duh! If we had adequate staffing, NO ONE would ever have to wait at the pharmacy!

One thing about this object lesson did work. It pissed me and a whole bunch of other pharmacists off. Good job.