I am the Crazy RxMan, your local pharmacist... smart enough to be a pharmacist, insane enough to work retail!
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Let's Get Specific!
So I'm supposed to dispense EXACTLY 137.2ml of Amoxicillin 400mg/5ml suspension and tell the parent that she needs to extract EXACTLY 9.8ml of suspension for each and every dose.
Really, doc? Really?
Who's in charge? You or the software?
Monday, November 27, 2017
Mucinex: Now for Constipation!
"Where's your stool softener," said the guy, 60 is the new 50-ish, asks me.
It's behind you on aisle seven, on the left.
He goes and takes a look. A moment later he steps out of the aisle just as a random group of people, all not together, are walking by. "Where's the Mucinex?" he asks. As I'm on my way to tell him where to find it, two of the random group blurt out, "Mucinex, that's good stuff." Another adds her two cents, "Yeah, but ya gotta get the Mucinex-D, it's even better!" Now I could go on another side bar about how amazing it is that so many random people have pharmacy degrees but that's not pertinent to the story.
I get out to aisle seven to show the guy where the Mucinex is located when he says, "I don't see it here with the other stool softeners."
I quickly realize that he has some wrong information in his head. "Mucinex is to help loosen chest congestion," I say. "It's here on the other side of the aisle with the cough and cold formulations.
"But my wife told me to get Mucinex. She said it's the best."
"Yeah, it's a good product, but it's not a stool softener."
"BUT ALL THOSE PEOPLE SAID MUCINEX IS GREAT," he spits back, angrily.
It was two of the five people, not "all" of them. But that's just a detail thing only a pharmacist would think.
"Yes, but they didn't know you asked for a stool softener. They only heard you ask for Mucinex and offered their opinion for some reason."
The guy looks at me, squints, then says, "Are you sure?"
The demon inside me wants to step up to the plate and tell him: No, it's all a conspiracy. We keep the Mucinex with it's amazing constipation curing potential with the cough and cold items to throw people off the trail. You have to know the secret password for us to reveal the true nature of Mucinex.
Instead I show him again how the Mucinex is on the side of the aisle with the cough and cold formulations, then on the OTHER side there's the stomach remedies. The nearest thing that I can think of that sounds like Mucinex is Miralax. I show that to him."
"Nope," he says. "She said Mucinex."
At this point I had enough. I said "Let me know if I can help you with anything else," and I stepped away.
Now when he gets home, I project a 100% chance that she's going to be angry he didn't come home with Miralax AND he's going to be angry with ME for not pointing it out to him.
I'll activate a gift card now in anticipation of his arrival.
It's behind you on aisle seven, on the left.
He goes and takes a look. A moment later he steps out of the aisle just as a random group of people, all not together, are walking by. "Where's the Mucinex?" he asks. As I'm on my way to tell him where to find it, two of the random group blurt out, "Mucinex, that's good stuff." Another adds her two cents, "Yeah, but ya gotta get the Mucinex-D, it's even better!" Now I could go on another side bar about how amazing it is that so many random people have pharmacy degrees but that's not pertinent to the story.
I get out to aisle seven to show the guy where the Mucinex is located when he says, "I don't see it here with the other stool softeners."
I quickly realize that he has some wrong information in his head. "Mucinex is to help loosen chest congestion," I say. "It's here on the other side of the aisle with the cough and cold formulations.
"But my wife told me to get Mucinex. She said it's the best."
"Yeah, it's a good product, but it's not a stool softener."
"BUT ALL THOSE PEOPLE SAID MUCINEX IS GREAT," he spits back, angrily.
It was two of the five people, not "all" of them. But that's just a detail thing only a pharmacist would think.
"Yes, but they didn't know you asked for a stool softener. They only heard you ask for Mucinex and offered their opinion for some reason."
The guy looks at me, squints, then says, "Are you sure?"
The demon inside me wants to step up to the plate and tell him: No, it's all a conspiracy. We keep the Mucinex with it's amazing constipation curing potential with the cough and cold items to throw people off the trail. You have to know the secret password for us to reveal the true nature of Mucinex.
Instead I show him again how the Mucinex is on the side of the aisle with the cough and cold formulations, then on the OTHER side there's the stomach remedies. The nearest thing that I can think of that sounds like Mucinex is Miralax. I show that to him."
"Nope," he says. "She said Mucinex."
At this point I had enough. I said "Let me know if I can help you with anything else," and I stepped away.
Now when he gets home, I project a 100% chance that she's going to be angry he didn't come home with Miralax AND he's going to be angry with ME for not pointing it out to him.
I'll activate a gift card now in anticipation of his arrival.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Saturday, November 25, 2017
Adventures with Tim the Tech
Sometimes we get a floater tech. His name is Tim. It's hard to write negative things about Tim because I really like Tim. He just shouldn't be a tech. Here's some reasons why it's always a challenge to work with Tim:
When I finish filling a prescription I put it in a clear plastic bag that has a handle on it. Then that gets hung in the Will Call area. The bags often collect on the counter waiting to be hung up. I don't like that part and no one else does so the bagged prescriptions congregate there.
Last week someone came in to get a couple of scripts. Tim started to go to the Will Call but I recognized the name, grabbed the bag, and handed it to Tim, who then asked, “So are these ready to sell?”
“No Tim,” I said, “I just put uncounted meds in bags now.”
Tim either can't hear or doesn't hear. Almost every time someone comes to pick something up it’s like he doesn’t listen or even try to listen.
“Prescription for McDonald,” someone will say.
He’ll think they said “Donald” and start looking in the D section, then he’ll ask again. Then he won’t find anything and ask them for their birthdate. Then he’ll look on the computer and finally figure out they said McDonald. This happens almost everytime. I try to intervene where I can but I can’t babysit everything. Once or twice you can deal with... but this actually happens almost every time.
Tim’s favorite thing to do is stage drugs to fill. He’s not so keen on the actual filling part, but he’s kinda good at lining up the drug bottles with the printed labels. I say “kinda” because he never looks at the quantity needed and sometimes you need two bottles to fill the quantity needed. Other times he gets it completely wrong, like staging a box of diclofenac gel when we need the tablets. Or he’ll see atorvastatin and grab a bottle of rosuvastatin. They’re both statins, right? I’m used to these mistakes and just fix it without saying anything. If you do call him out on a mistake, he’ll blurt out “I KNOW!”
Yesterday I had to add water to a kid’s antibiotic script. It was taking longer because 1. Tim should have been doing it. 2. It was three bottles, and 3. It took me a moment to get to it because we were busy. I had to go reconstitute the medication because Tim was at the register going through the wrong name, get birthdate stuff he always does.
I was carefully pouring the third mixed bottle into a dispensing bottle when... for some reason Tim snuck up on me like a Ninja and blurted out,
“ARE YOU OK?”
Which startled me and caused me to fumble and spill it all over the counter. I had to redo the third bottle. I finished the reconstitution, handed the bottle to Tim, who promptly went to the register and asked the mother to verify the name, which he heard wrong or didn't listen to, then turned to me with a puzzled look on his face and said, "Who is this for?"
"That's for her. It's the right medication."
"I know!"
When I finish filling a prescription I put it in a clear plastic bag that has a handle on it. Then that gets hung in the Will Call area. The bags often collect on the counter waiting to be hung up. I don't like that part and no one else does so the bagged prescriptions congregate there.
Last week someone came in to get a couple of scripts. Tim started to go to the Will Call but I recognized the name, grabbed the bag, and handed it to Tim, who then asked, “So are these ready to sell?”
“No Tim,” I said, “I just put uncounted meds in bags now.”
“Prescription for McDonald,” someone will say.
He’ll think they said “Donald” and start looking in the D section, then he’ll ask again. Then he won’t find anything and ask them for their birthdate. Then he’ll look on the computer and finally figure out they said McDonald. This happens almost everytime. I try to intervene where I can but I can’t babysit everything. Once or twice you can deal with... but this actually happens almost every time.
Tim’s favorite thing to do is stage drugs to fill. He’s not so keen on the actual filling part, but he’s kinda good at lining up the drug bottles with the printed labels. I say “kinda” because he never looks at the quantity needed and sometimes you need two bottles to fill the quantity needed. Other times he gets it completely wrong, like staging a box of diclofenac gel when we need the tablets. Or he’ll see atorvastatin and grab a bottle of rosuvastatin. They’re both statins, right? I’m used to these mistakes and just fix it without saying anything. If you do call him out on a mistake, he’ll blurt out “I KNOW!”
Yesterday I had to add water to a kid’s antibiotic script. It was taking longer because 1. Tim should have been doing it. 2. It was three bottles, and 3. It took me a moment to get to it because we were busy. I had to go reconstitute the medication because Tim was at the register going through the wrong name, get birthdate stuff he always does.
I was carefully pouring the third mixed bottle into a dispensing bottle when... for some reason Tim snuck up on me like a Ninja and blurted out,
“ARE YOU OK?”
Which startled me and caused me to fumble and spill it all over the counter. I had to redo the third bottle. I finished the reconstitution, handed the bottle to Tim, who promptly went to the register and asked the mother to verify the name, which he heard wrong or didn't listen to, then turned to me with a puzzled look on his face and said, "Who is this for?"
"That's for her. It's the right medication."
"I know!"
