Squirrely Saturdays

Saturdays are killer. One pharmacist (unfortunately me), two techs, one-half a cashier, and 350 squirrels.....a glorious day in the world of retail pharmacy. I'm not complaining about the lack of breaks (bathroom included), bogus prescriptions, long hours, or expired prescriptions. What never fails is the last minute squirrel stampede. I don't know if there is a concerted effort on the patients' part or if it is a phenomenon across the pharmacy world, but today everyone waited until closing time to come to the pharmacy. We close at 7 pm (or two minutes before). Both techs left at 6 and I was left with a cashier. At 6:15 I had not one, not three, but 15 new prescriptions to type, check, fill, check, and bag. Not one refill. All new....and by new I mean a written prescription from the doctor, nevermind that it was written over a month ago. Here's the part that really gets me...why in the hell do they decide to wait until closing?? Obviously this prescription is not urgent because it has been folded up, stepped on, soaked in mysterious fluids, and has a tire tread imprinted on it. I think this is a rule in the squirrel manual. Wait until closing and bombard your pharmacist. Well guess what....that doesn't mean that you can get your prescriptions faster. No one got any prescriptions until 6:45. I took my dear sweet time and even had time to flash a smile at my adoring fans. Ha ha hell......

Friday Night Idiots

I absolutely love closing on Friday nights. I'm so excited to see how many people will show up after 5 pm with prescription bottles that have no refills. I enjoy watching the acting, but especially love it when they forget the lines. It should go something like this: "I need this prescription refilled. It is my blood pressure/diabetes/seizure medicine that I need. I will die without this medicine. Oh, no refills? Huh, I didn't see that. Could you call my doctor to get a refill? Wait, it's after 5...they are probably closed. Can you give me 3 pills until Monday? I really need this medicine. You don't want me to have a stroke/seizure, do you? What? That bottle is from 2005? I must've picked up the wrong one. Oh, I'm not in your computer system? But I gets my medicine filled here every month. I don't understand." At the register: "What!!!!! Why is it that much for just 3 pills? Can't you just take it out of the whole prescription Monday? I don't understand. This is my blood pressure/diabetes/seizure medicine! Hell no I'm not going to the after hours clinic to get the whole prescription. I guess I'll just die then."

Yes, I do realize that this does sometimes happen to even the best patients, but there are repeat offenders. Tonight was no exception. It is never their fault. They have no responsibilty for their own medicine or healthcare needs, it is YOUR fault as the pharmacist. I really can't stand these people or their pitiful acting. I do care and try to assist as much as possible, but within reason. I do not own the pharmacy and cannot just give out medicine. But here's the question that still can't be answered: How can they remember to go to the welfare office to stand in line, but can't "remember" to request a refill during normal business hours??? Gimme a break....

Reaching a Milestone

So today was my day off before the weekend. I slept most of the day. It was nice to give my joints a much needed break. I've recently experienced what I like to think of as a milestone in my pharmacy career: irreversible swelling. My feet and ankles swell up every day and never seem to recover. It is a sign of my experience, as all the older pharmacists that I know all seem to have a limp.

Yesterday I had a discussion with a customer on the phone that I think is worth sharing.
Disgruntled Druggist: "This is the pharmacist speaking, how may I help you?"
Clueless Customer: "I had my scriptions filled dere today and you didn't put the directions on dem. How am I posed to know how to take dis?"
Disgruntled Druggist: "Ma'am the directions say take one capsule by mouth twice daily for 7 days"
Clueless Customer: "Yeah so when I'm posed to take em?"
Disgruntled Druggist: "Well twice daily generally means every 12 hours."
Clueless Customer: "Ok, well yall messed up my other one too. It says take one tablet three times a day until gone."
Disgruntled Druggist: "Three times a day is every 8 hours."
Clueless Customer: "Ok den" -click-

That was a new one for me. Just when I thought it couldn't get any dumber, the public still surprised me. I guess that now we will have to start putting the exact hour/min/sec on the label pretty soon. This reminds me of a call one of my other pharmacists got on a Sunday morning after the time had changed due to daylight savings time. The customer wanted to know when to take her medicine now that the time was different. She wasn't quite sure. And these people are allowed to be parents???

Thank Goodness for Blogs!

I would just like to start out by paying my respects to TAP, TAestP, and Dr Grumpy. If you haven't read their blogs, please check them out.

So by the title of my blog you can probably guess that I am a pharmacist. Hopefully you can tell that I am not a happy pharmacist either. There are many issues that I have with the healthcare system in America. Most of this may be obsolete soon if President Obama is successful with his efforts to socialize medicine. Anyone who has ever billed Medicare knows that the government cannot run a healthcare system, much less with no additional cost to taxpayers. My posts will mostly be of a random nature and very amateurish. I am not a professional writer, nor did I enjoy English class. I am only doing this to vent my frustrations that I have throughout the day/week. I love my profession, but meeting the 'public' has really opened my eyes to the stupidity of people. I work in a fast food pharmacy where prescriptions are expected to be filled in 15 minutes or less (hold the mustard, please). Needless to say, whatever hair that I have left is turning gray. I used to be a very friendly, outgoing, happy-go-lucky person, but that has been shot to hell. I am a jaded, burnt-out, fed-up, snippy, snappy DISGRUNTLED DRUGGIST!