Re: Stuff Customers Do In A Pharmacy

July 27, 2006

Heh, when in retail, things happen. All kinds of people imaginable AND

unimaginable would rush to community pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions,

especially 24 hours stores like CVS and Walgreens. I had a couple of encounters

and the fact that I'm new (recently started 2 weeks ago) didn't help, and the

fact that I'm hard of hearing didn't help either. lol. I can communicate with

customers just fine but when the customer has a strong accent or speak so fast

as if he/she is in a hurry ... and they would get annoyed when I had to ask them

to spell their last name slowly or to write their name down (hey ... speaking so

fast like it's a spelling bee definitely won't make anything faster or easier

....) There was one night on my shift that it got so bad that an angry customer

actually opened his unpaid prescription bottle and threw the pills at the

cashier who came over from the front store to help us out ... since we got a

" nut house " and very shortstaffed.

If you had experience in both retail and hospital pharmacies, can you please

tell me your experience in these two and which one you like better? I am going

to try for a hospital pharmacy technician next year because I don't think

hospital techs have to interact with patients very much ... right? Just doctors

and nurses... Right now, I enjoy retail because it is still new to me, but I

would like to try a different setting to see whether a hospital setting will fit

me better.

That's interesting how they thought you were deaf. What made them made that

assumption?

Tingting

Virginia

Stuff Customers Do In A Pharmacy

Hi Della,

Don't you find that to be most insulting when you see the customer's eyes

scanning the pharmacy for a man? I was checking out dates the other and my back

was to the drop off counter. Two customers walked up and saw me and apparently

thought first I was the female pharmacist in the store and second that I was

deaf. They're only about 2 or 3 feet from my back and I hear stuff like this. Oh

she's the only one here. Maybe we should leave. When do think Dave will be here?

I didn't turn around right away because I was feeling insulted for Amy (who they

obviously thought I was) and I wanted to hear what else they would say. They

stood for about a minute lost in their dilemma. So without turning around, I

said- Dave is here, do you want to talk to him? I could feel the rush of relief

in the air. And finally, the big question, they were holding bottles for

refills. No question.

We also had a doctor in town who didn't like Amy. Loved Dave because they knew

him forever. Hated Amy because she wasn't Dave. Anyway, this doctor would call

and ask for Dave. He was Chinese and had a little accent. I used to imitate him

just to make light of the situation because it wasn't really funny. It went

something like this:

Phone rings.

DR: " This Dr. Gong. Speak to Dave please. "

I always ask the next question because Dave's father is a patient of Dr. Gong

and sometimes the calls are personal.

ME: " Dave isn't here today, Dr. Gong. Would you like to speak to Amy? "

DR: " Um, no. Speak to tech. "

ME: " It's me Dr. Gong, how can I help you? "

And he would ask all sorts of questions. Last week he called and wanted to know

about Plan-B. Actually, he wanted to know if we had any sort of " morning after "

pill. I told him we had Plan-B. He laughed. " Plan-B? What that for? When Plan-A

fail? " He didn't believe me this time. He asked me to spell it for him so he

could look it up in the PDR. I was worried he would ask to speak with the

cashier next.

Have a great day,

--

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely

in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,

champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up,

totally worn out and screaming " WOO HOO - what a ride! "

------------ -- Original message ------------ --

From: Della <dhengelgmail (DOT) com>

Yah. Well, imagine this picture. Guy comes up with one of the Wart

Freezing kits, and says he has a question. Okay, what's the question.

Him: " Well, I have a mole that I want to try and remove, can I use one

of these for it? " (Note: Picture him holding the Compound W FreezeOff

and the Dr. Scholl's Freeze Away.)

Me: " I don't know if it would work or not. Your best bet would be to

call the manufacturer, and each one has a number on the label. "

Him: " Well, do you know which would be better? "

Me: " For a wart, they're basically the same thing. For treating a

mole, you would have to call the manufacturer or contact your Doctor. "

(While my brain is going: Apparently he didn't understand me the

FIRST time!)

Him: " Well, is the pharmacist here? "

Me: *raises her hand* " I am the pharmacist. "

Him: " Well, is there someone else I can ask? "

Me: " I'm the only pharmacist here, and the technicians can't answer

those types of questions, so you really do need to call the

manufacturer. They may have information on it. "

Him: *walks off in a huff*

Yes, pharmacists (and a lot of techs!) know a lot about OTC and RX

stuff. But since moles CAN turn cancerous, I'm not ABOUT to tell

someone " Sure, freeze it off, it's not approved for that, I haven't

read anything about it, but sure, go ahead! " That's not going to

happen! I get these funny looks from some folks when I go: " Honestly?

I just don't know. I can look it up if you'd like. (If it's something

I have access to references in the pharmacy). But I'm not going to

tell you something just to tell you something. "

Sorry, I am NOT a walking encyclopedia, and I do not have a

photographic memory (that'd be an interesting ability).

I had some trouble in pharmacy school, because I do remember some

things, but not others. But give me a reference or two (or heck, just

my internet connection and a search engine) and I can track down a lot

of things.

But I am NOT going to lie (or omit the truth, which can be construed

as two different things, depending on what semantics you have) to make

someone feel better about a question, after I've told them I don't

know.

And please everyone, do not take this statement wrong. But people can

be just downright STUPID.

Some of my favorite phrases:

It's a dumb day.

Definition: When we keep getting customers who don't want to put any

effort into finding ANYTHING and wants someone to show them where 5 or

6 different things are, and most of us give dang good descriptions of

which aisle and where on the aisle things are!)

Welcome to the nut house:

Definition: Everyone's being a ditz, we are busier than *bleep*, and

people keep asking the same question to different people in the

pharmacy expecting a different answer.

It's an interesting day:

Definition: Things are otherwise normal, but we've had a few people

who we wish would have stayed away.

Okay:

Definition: It's actually a pretty good day if I'm not using one of

the first two phrases!

Della

(who does define herself as an smartaleck brat to some customers/patients)Recent

Activity

23New Members

2New Links

6New Files

Visit Your Group

July 27, 2006

Dear Ting,

I have met only 3 techs online who went from retail to hosp back to

retail. All the other techs that made the crossover never went back to

retail. Having said this those who have gone back are sure to post!

Most who go back to retail do so because they miss the patient contact.

However I did a short stint in retail and it drove me nuts. I love

people, but I will not put up with the crap that retail techs have to

put up with. I hate the constant problems with adjudication process. I

am more of a lab rat and enjoy lab work and making IV's. I like the

communication process between nurses doctors and techs and prefer it

over the patient contact with those who are impatient, cross, yelling

, rude etc. YES I know that the majority are not like that, and many

are driven by illness, but I have no desire to be in that situation.

I would rather put up with a nurse ratchets who is a great nurse to

her pts and God-Almighty doctor complexes than put up with a jerk pt

at the counter.

I see the discharges instead of pts at the window to know that my work

is helping the pts. I see sicker people in the hospital. I enjoy being

on a code team, doing massive outdates, setting up daily meds,

entering orders inthe computer, making IV;s anesthesia trays, filling

ER carts etc. There is the " Resuscitation failed " but more often

than not (where worked) there was more " resuscitaion successful " . I

liked working independantly as well as with a team. I felt more

appreciated and recognized in the hospital.

As you know I am an instructor now. But in keepting tabs on my grads

not much has changed to get me into retail. In fact med part d really

would keep me away. I realize most of the kinks are out, but clearly

I am not cut out for retail. I give the techs who are great admiration

and credit.

I suggest that you definitely give hospital a try. Then decide. Let us

know what you think.

Remember that while experience is not so positive in retail, that most

techs are retail techs. So it can't be all that bad. I think it stems

from my chemistry and labs. I prefer this type of work.

I KNOW we will hear from retail techs who have done both. I did my

stint between hosptial work. I started in hosp and ended in hosp. So I

went the other way: hosp to retail to hosp.

Respectfully

Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS

Founder/Owner

>

> Heh, when in retail, things happen. All kinds of people imaginable

AND unimaginable would rush to community pharmacy to pick up their

prescriptions, especially 24 hours stores like CVS and Walgreens. I

had a couple of encounters and the fact that I'm new (recently started

2 weeks ago) didn't help, and the fact that I'm hard of hearing didn't

help either. lol. I can communicate with customers just fine but when

the customer has a strong accent or speak so fast as if he/she is in a

hurry ... and they would get annoyed when I had to ask them to spell

their last name slowly or to write their name down (hey ... speaking

so fast like it's a spelling bee definitely won't make anything faster

or easier ...) There was one night on my shift that it got so bad that

an angry customer actually opened his unpaid prescription bottle and

threw the pills at the cashier who came over from the front store to

help us out ... since we got a " nut house " and very shortstaffed.

>

> If you had experience in both retail and hospital pharmacies, can

you please tell me your experience in these two and which one you like

better? I am going to try for a hospital pharmacy technician next year

because I don't think hospital techs have to interact with patients

very much ... right? Just doctors and nurses... Right now, I enjoy

retail because it is still new to me, but I would like to try a

different setting to see whether a hospital setting will fit me better.

>

> That's interesting how they thought you were deaf. What made them

made that assumption?

>

> Tingting

> Virginia

>

July 27, 2006

I KNOW HOW YALL FEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS JUST ONE OF THE VERY REASONS I WILL

NEVER GO BACK TO RETAIL EXCEPT FOR OWNING ONE.

I did not really have the ignoring problem (might of been because of the area I

was work...(has a lot to do with it)). I was sick and tired of the drugies and

the addicted fools that would play the game with their criminal doctors. Get

their valiums, talwin, xanax filled go sell it on the street and then come back

for another refill and act a complete idiots with their hollering and scream

that WE don't know what we're talking about when we say you just got this

refilled the day or week before. At this time they are pissed off at all of us;

clerks, tech and pharmacists. LOL LOL LOL LOL.

Outpatient is another animal....their you got people with other issues when they

can't get what they want from dr or pharmacy then you get called out of your

names by them and get written up by your company for agitating the customers.

So their is stress in both avenues Retail and Hospital outpatient.

cphtgenius@... wrote:

>Hi Della,

>

>Don't you find that to be most insulting when you see the customer's eyes

scanning the pharmacy for a man? I was checking out dates the other and my back

was to the drop off counter. Two customers walked up and saw me and apparently

thought first I was the female pharmacist in the store and second that I was

deaf. They're only about 2 or 3 feet from my back and I hear stuff like this.

Oh she's the only one here. Maybe we should leave. When do think Dave will

be here? I didn't turn around right away because I was feeling insulted for Amy

(who they obviously thought I was) and I wanted to hear what else they would

say. They stood for about a minute lost in their dilemma. So without turning

around, I said- Dave is here, do you want to talk to him? I could feel the rush

of relief in the air. And finally, the big question, they were holding bottles

for refills. No question.

>

>We also had a doctor in town who didn't like Amy. Loved Dave because they knew

him forever. Hated Amy because she wasn't Dave. Anyway, this doctor would call

and ask for Dave. He was Chinese and had a little accent. I used to imitate

him just to make light of the situation because it wasn't really funny. It went

something like this:

>

>Phone rings.

>

>DR: " This Dr. Gong. Speak to Dave please. "

>

>I always ask the next question because Dave's father is a patient of Dr. Gong

and sometimes the calls are personal.

>

>ME: " Dave isn't here today, Dr. Gong. Would you like to speak to Amy? "

>

>DR: " Um, no. Speak to tech. "

>

>ME: " It's me Dr. Gong, how can I help you? "

>

>And he would ask all sorts of questions. Last week he called and wanted to

know about Plan-B. Actually, he wanted to know if we had any sort of " morning

after " pill. I told him we had Plan-B. He laughed. " Plan-B? What that for?

When Plan-A fail? " He didn't believe me this time. He asked me to spell it

for him so he could look it up in the PDR. I was worried he would ask to speak

with the cashier next.

>

>Have a great day,

>

>--

>Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely

in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,

champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up,

totally worn out and screaming " WOO HOO - what a ride! "

>

>-------------- Original message --------------

>From: Della <dhengel@...>

>Yah. Well, imagine this picture. Guy comes up with one of the Wart

>Freezing kits, and says he has a question. Okay, what's the question.

>

>Him: " Well, I have a mole that I want to try and remove, can I use one

>of these for it? " (Note: Picture him holding the Compound W FreezeOff

>and the Dr. Scholl's Freeze Away.)

>

>Me: " I don't know if it would work or not. Your best bet would be to

>call the manufacturer, and each one has a number on the label. "

>

>Him: " Well, do you know which would be better? "

>

>Me: " For a wart, they're basically the same thing. For treating a

>mole, you would have to call the manufacturer or contact your Doctor. "

>(While my brain is going: Apparently he didn't understand me the

>FIRST time!)

>

>Him: " Well, is the pharmacist here? "

>

>Me: *raises her hand* " I am the pharmacist. "

>

>Him: " Well, is there someone else I can ask? "

>

>Me: " I'm the only pharmacist here, and the technicians can't answer

>those types of questions, so you really do need to call the

>manufacturer. They may have information on it. "

>

>Him: *walks off in a huff*

>

>Yes, pharmacists (and a lot of techs!) know a lot about OTC and RX

>stuff. But since moles CAN turn cancerous, I'm not ABOUT to tell

>someone " Sure, freeze it off, it's not approved for that, I haven't

>read anything about it, but sure, go ahead! " That's not going to

>happen! I get these funny looks from some folks when I go: " Honestly?

>I just don't know. I can look it up if you'd like. (If it's something

>I have access to references in the pharmacy). But I'm not going to

>tell you something just to tell you something. "

>

>Sorry, I am NOT a walking encyclopedia, and I do not have a

>photographic memory (that'd be an interesting ability).

>

>I had some trouble in pharmacy school, because I do remember some

>things, but not others. But give me a reference or two (or heck, just

>my internet connection and a search engine) and I can track down a lot

>of things.

>

>But I am NOT going to lie (or omit the truth, which can be construed

>as two different things, depending on what semantics you have) to make

>someone feel better about a question, after I've told them I don't

>know.

>

>And please everyone, do not take this statement wrong. But people can

>be just downright STUPID.

>

>Some of my favorite phrases:

>It's a dumb day.

>Definition: When we keep getting customers who don't want to put any

>effort into finding ANYTHING and wants someone to show them where 5 or

>6 different things are, and most of us give dang good descriptions of

>which aisle and where on the aisle things are!)

>

>Welcome to the nut house:

>Definition: Everyone's being a ditz, we are busier than *bleep*, and

>people keep asking the same question to different people in the

>pharmacy expecting a different answer.

>

>It's an interesting day:

>Definition: Things are otherwise normal, but we've had a few people

>who we wish would have stayed away.

>

>Okay:

>Definition: It's actually a pretty good day if I'm not using one of

>the first two phrases!

>

>Della

>(who does define herself as an smartaleck brat to some customers/patients)

>

>On 7/27/06, Jeanetta Mastron CPhT BS Chemistry <rxjm2002@...> wrote:

>> OH JOY!!!

>>

>> I am not as 'not knowledgable' as I thought!

>>

>> YEAH! Della THANK YOU for validating that I had a legitamate problem

>> with this math problem because there was not enough information.

>>

>> With the statement that you just gave, and if given the information

>> that I/we think is missing, I believe I could have done the problem. I

>> just did not want to attempt it with an assumption of grams and find

>> out that a compounding tech/pharmacist would ahve done it another way.

>>

>> Yet I did learn something about the 120 grams is the usual batch

>> preparation size. That was good to know.

>>

>> THANK YOU again. I really needed to hear/read this!

>>

>> Jeanetta

>> Just goes to show we are never too old or too educated to learn! It is

>> also true we can never be too skinny! Now if I could only be a bit

>> skinny!

>>

>

July 27, 2006

Hi TingTing,

I work for CVS too. How do you like it so far?

I was being a little sarcastic when I said they thought I was deaf because they

were talking about me loud enough for me to hear everything they said and like I

said they were only about 2 - 3 feet away from me. I understand we all don't

have to like everybody but show a little bit of courtesy - if you're going to

talk about me do it where I can't hear you.

I worked both retail and hospital and I prefer retail. For the most part, the

customers are fine. It's those few who tweek you so bad that you never forget

the incident who are hard to take.

--

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely

in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways,

champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up,

totally worn out and screaming " WOO HOO - what a ride! "

--------- Stuff Customers Do In A Pharmacy