Have you ever felt like no matter how hard you work at something or how much time you sink into a project, that you will never be appreciated or thanked for what you have done?
Yeah. I'm there.
Don't get me wrong... I love working in the pharmacy. And giving care to the many patients that frequent my store. But what really... REALLY... Gets on my last nerve is the apathetic attitude of certain staff members. And no matter how much I push them, talk to them, talk to my superiors, etc. nothing gets done about the problem. I'll be buried in my area for hours on end, while others talk and cut-up on the clock. And I have just about had enough.
The breaking point came tonight, when I learned that one of my techs actually complained about MY work ethic. MINE. The guy who gets there early and stays late. The one who is actually making a career out of this. The one who gives 110% day in, day out.
So needless to say... I'm quite furious. And am really, really close to making some major changes in my staff setup.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Catching Up...
Been a while since I have been able to post to the blog. Need to catch up a bit.
Life goes on here in Gulf Shores. The 4th of July holiday made traffic a nightmare in town, plus I had to work the entire weekend. And you would think that the holiday would make things easier, and for most pharmacies it does, but when you're in a vacation hotspot it does the exact opposite. Crazy busy at the pharmacy.
Which reminds me... If you go on vacation and leave your medicine at home, it's not a problem for me to transfer your medicine here. But if you got it filled, say, a week ago, don't be surprised if your insurance company doesn't want to foot the bill. Emphasis added on insurance company, because I was yelled at no less than 3 times over the weekend because I personally was charging SO much. Here's an idea... Leaving your medicine at home is YOUR fault. Not mine. So yelling at me only makes you look like a 2 year-old throwing a tantrum.
But I digress.
It was also good to see one of my good friends in town on vacation... Brian Britton, from the talkweather.com community, was in town with his lovely family enjoying some much deserved time off. We were able to catch dinner one night in Orange Beach, and it was great to catch up and share stories from our work settings.
Otherwise... It's been the usual trying to get things clean around the condo. I've been logging quite a bit of time on the new Tiger Woods 10 game for the Wii... Super realistic and even more addictive. But for now... Time to finish up some laundry.
Life goes on here in Gulf Shores. The 4th of July holiday made traffic a nightmare in town, plus I had to work the entire weekend. And you would think that the holiday would make things easier, and for most pharmacies it does, but when you're in a vacation hotspot it does the exact opposite. Crazy busy at the pharmacy.
Which reminds me... If you go on vacation and leave your medicine at home, it's not a problem for me to transfer your medicine here. But if you got it filled, say, a week ago, don't be surprised if your insurance company doesn't want to foot the bill. Emphasis added on insurance company, because I was yelled at no less than 3 times over the weekend because I personally was charging SO much. Here's an idea... Leaving your medicine at home is YOUR fault. Not mine. So yelling at me only makes you look like a 2 year-old throwing a tantrum.
But I digress.
It was also good to see one of my good friends in town on vacation... Brian Britton, from the talkweather.com community, was in town with his lovely family enjoying some much deserved time off. We were able to catch dinner one night in Orange Beach, and it was great to catch up and share stories from our work settings.
Otherwise... It's been the usual trying to get things clean around the condo. I've been logging quite a bit of time on the new Tiger Woods 10 game for the Wii... Super realistic and even more addictive. But for now... Time to finish up some laundry.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Been a While...
Pretty busy couple of weeks... And in the middle of a LONG week of work now. My other pharmacist is enjoying some well-deserved vacation time, and I am pretty much keeping an eye on everything in the meantime.
And as it relates to work... I have a few random things I would like to rant about if you'll bear with me.
[begin rant]
Pharmacy customers... We do the best we can in the pharmacy to do our job safely and in a timely manner. Most of the time, we can get a given prescription out in 15 minutes or less. But at certain times, you need to understand that we are EXTREMELY busy with consults, Dr. calls, and many other scripts besides your own. The appropriate step here is to bear with us and give us a little more time. What is NOT ok is to create a scene in front of the counter about how terrible we are and how it's "absurd that it takes any longer than 5 minutes because all you ever do is label a box or bottle".
What it comes down to... Is do you want it FAST... Or do you want it RIGHT?
And while we're on the topic... Pharmacy drive-thrus are the worst thing to happen to pharmacy EVER. Just because it's a drive thru doesn't mean you can get things completely done start to finish in 5 minutes or less. This isn't Burger King; you cannot have it your way. If I had a nickel for every time I have been cursed out over this, I'd be in good shape on my student loans.
Doctors offices... With the advent of voicemail and fax machines, there is absolutely NO REASON(besides an emergency) to demand a pharmacist for the sole purpose of calling in a prescription. I check that fax continually, and the voicemail at least twice hourly, so I find it pointless to drop everything else I am doing because some rogue nurse refuses to use a voicemail.
The irony in this, of course, is that the same offices who do this get all jacked out of shape when I call them to ask a question about some poorly written script a patient brought in. How dare I actually want to talk to a person rather than guess at what the doctor scrawled! There have been so many times that they send me straight to voicemail and I have to call back to have the receptionist get all huffy with me.
[end rant]
Well. At least I feel a bit better. :)
One more off day tomorrow before a long haul work weekend. But next week should be great with family visiting on vacation, and a weekend trip to the beach! :D
And as it relates to work... I have a few random things I would like to rant about if you'll bear with me.
[begin rant]
Pharmacy customers... We do the best we can in the pharmacy to do our job safely and in a timely manner. Most of the time, we can get a given prescription out in 15 minutes or less. But at certain times, you need to understand that we are EXTREMELY busy with consults, Dr. calls, and many other scripts besides your own. The appropriate step here is to bear with us and give us a little more time. What is NOT ok is to create a scene in front of the counter about how terrible we are and how it's "absurd that it takes any longer than 5 minutes because all you ever do is label a box or bottle".
What it comes down to... Is do you want it FAST... Or do you want it RIGHT?
And while we're on the topic... Pharmacy drive-thrus are the worst thing to happen to pharmacy EVER. Just because it's a drive thru doesn't mean you can get things completely done start to finish in 5 minutes or less. This isn't Burger King; you cannot have it your way. If I had a nickel for every time I have been cursed out over this, I'd be in good shape on my student loans.
Doctors offices... With the advent of voicemail and fax machines, there is absolutely NO REASON(besides an emergency) to demand a pharmacist for the sole purpose of calling in a prescription. I check that fax continually, and the voicemail at least twice hourly, so I find it pointless to drop everything else I am doing because some rogue nurse refuses to use a voicemail.
The irony in this, of course, is that the same offices who do this get all jacked out of shape when I call them to ask a question about some poorly written script a patient brought in. How dare I actually want to talk to a person rather than guess at what the doctor scrawled! There have been so many times that they send me straight to voicemail and I have to call back to have the receptionist get all huffy with me.
[end rant]
Well. At least I feel a bit better. :)
One more off day tomorrow before a long haul work weekend. But next week should be great with family visiting on vacation, and a weekend trip to the beach! :D
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
A Wild Couple of Days...
It's good to be off today after working the past 2 days. This week has been particularly busy.
For those of you not familiar with the world of pharmacy, the busiest time of the month tends to be the first 2-3 days of it. Probably because retirees receive their monthly check around this time. The busiest time in any given week is Monday. Because anything that happened from Friday night to Sunday sickness-wise can't be handled by a doc until then.
So... When both of these time periods coincide, such as MONDAY June 1st and Tuesday June 2nd, it's sort of like the perfect storm. And not in a good way.
Monday was made even worse by the fact that I was minus one tech to start with due to some sort of family emergency, and lost a second one 3 hours into the day because her child was sick at daycare. I was quite lucky to have survived, other than being completely exhausted. We finished the day having done 518 prescriptions. That's averaging one per 1:30 for 13 hours straight.
We followed that up yesterday with a grand total of 469. And one of the weirdest and most uncalled-for situations in my 10 years of pharmacy experience.
Early yesterday afternoon, we had a situation in the drive-thru in which an older lady refused to produce a drivers license for a check she had written. Her name was NOWHERE on the check, and my tech told her we couldn't accept the check without some form of ID. Standard company policy, and a great idea to prevent someone from illegally using someone else's check. The lady got belligerent, and the tech had to call me over. I explained the policy to this lady, and she said (in VERY inappropriate language) that she didn't give a 'something' about our policy and that I could shove our policy 'somewhere' and that I was nothing but a 'somethingsomethingsomething'. She grabs the check and screeches out of the drive-thru.
Fast forward to an hour later... And the husband shows up to pick up the Rx. This time, inside the store at the main counter, at the busiest time of the day, with all my employees and a crowd of customers to witness this. As it turns out, the tantrum from the wife barely qualified as a warm-up act to what was about to happen.
This 74 year-old jerk proceeds to verbally assault me, swearing, screaming, shouting, etc. To the point where all I could do is stand there and take it with a completely shocked look on my face. I tried to calm him with the occasional "Sir? Sir?", but all it did was make him louder. This went on for what seemed like an eternity before he finally decided to go. It was everything I could do to not shout back at the guy, because it was completely embarrassing and uncalled-for. I can only hope that the guy was serious when he said he was changing pharmacies, but I doubt I am that lucky.
Anyway, I have today and tomorrow to recover a bit. Figures that after 2 days of nice sunny weather, I wake up to a storm outside today. Bleh.
For those of you not familiar with the world of pharmacy, the busiest time of the month tends to be the first 2-3 days of it. Probably because retirees receive their monthly check around this time. The busiest time in any given week is Monday. Because anything that happened from Friday night to Sunday sickness-wise can't be handled by a doc until then.
So... When both of these time periods coincide, such as MONDAY June 1st and Tuesday June 2nd, it's sort of like the perfect storm. And not in a good way.
Monday was made even worse by the fact that I was minus one tech to start with due to some sort of family emergency, and lost a second one 3 hours into the day because her child was sick at daycare. I was quite lucky to have survived, other than being completely exhausted. We finished the day having done 518 prescriptions. That's averaging one per 1:30 for 13 hours straight.
We followed that up yesterday with a grand total of 469. And one of the weirdest and most uncalled-for situations in my 10 years of pharmacy experience.
Early yesterday afternoon, we had a situation in the drive-thru in which an older lady refused to produce a drivers license for a check she had written. Her name was NOWHERE on the check, and my tech told her we couldn't accept the check without some form of ID. Standard company policy, and a great idea to prevent someone from illegally using someone else's check. The lady got belligerent, and the tech had to call me over. I explained the policy to this lady, and she said (in VERY inappropriate language) that she didn't give a 'something' about our policy and that I could shove our policy 'somewhere' and that I was nothing but a 'somethingsomethingsomething'. She grabs the check and screeches out of the drive-thru.
Fast forward to an hour later... And the husband shows up to pick up the Rx. This time, inside the store at the main counter, at the busiest time of the day, with all my employees and a crowd of customers to witness this. As it turns out, the tantrum from the wife barely qualified as a warm-up act to what was about to happen.
This 74 year-old jerk proceeds to verbally assault me, swearing, screaming, shouting, etc. To the point where all I could do is stand there and take it with a completely shocked look on my face. I tried to calm him with the occasional "Sir? Sir?", but all it did was make him louder. This went on for what seemed like an eternity before he finally decided to go. It was everything I could do to not shout back at the guy, because it was completely embarrassing and uncalled-for. I can only hope that the guy was serious when he said he was changing pharmacies, but I doubt I am that lucky.
Anyway, I have today and tomorrow to recover a bit. Figures that after 2 days of nice sunny weather, I wake up to a storm outside today. Bleh.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
What a Difference a Year Makes...
As I was sitting here today, I realized that it has been a full year since I graduated from pharmacy school. This totally blows my mind. And not only that, but I have experienced a LOT of firsts since that life-changing event.
In the 12 months since graduation, I have:
1. Started a new job in a new city.
2. Moved out to live on my own for the first time.
3. Set up a new home, furniture, amenities and all.
4. Bought my dream car.
5. Attended my first Alabama/Auburn football game. (ROLL TIDE!)
6. Attended my first Monday Night Football game. (GO TITANS!)
7. Lost my Granny, who I lived with for 6 years in college.
8. Spent holidays with family at home.
9. Spent some holidays at work with my new work 'family'.
10. Made brand-new friends.
11. Kept in touch with friends at home.
12. Lost touch with other friends who seemed to forget me once I moved.
13. Had welcome visitors from back at home.
14. Had welcome visitors from new friends I have made.
So, as you can see, it's been quite the roller-coaster.
As I was weighing my options on a new contract, I had to look at where I am as opposed to where I was back in Birmingham. And although I miss certain people and things back in Birmingham, it's nice to be out here on my own, making a name and life for myself. Close enough to always come visit, but far enough away to do my own thing independently.
So. It looks like I will be signing a new lease in the next few days to stay here in Gulf Shores. Which really surprises me, because a year ago, I was convinced I would do a year here then move back. Funny how it works out sometimes.
In the 12 months since graduation, I have:
1. Started a new job in a new city.
2. Moved out to live on my own for the first time.
3. Set up a new home, furniture, amenities and all.
4. Bought my dream car.
5. Attended my first Alabama/Auburn football game. (ROLL TIDE!)
6. Attended my first Monday Night Football game. (GO TITANS!)
7. Lost my Granny, who I lived with for 6 years in college.
8. Spent holidays with family at home.
9. Spent some holidays at work with my new work 'family'.
10. Made brand-new friends.
11. Kept in touch with friends at home.
12. Lost touch with other friends who seemed to forget me once I moved.
13. Had welcome visitors from back at home.
14. Had welcome visitors from new friends I have made.
So, as you can see, it's been quite the roller-coaster.
As I was weighing my options on a new contract, I had to look at where I am as opposed to where I was back in Birmingham. And although I miss certain people and things back in Birmingham, it's nice to be out here on my own, making a name and life for myself. Close enough to always come visit, but far enough away to do my own thing independently.
So. It looks like I will be signing a new lease in the next few days to stay here in Gulf Shores. Which really surprises me, because a year ago, I was convinced I would do a year here then move back. Funny how it works out sometimes.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Let's Give This a Try...
Time to start putting this blog to use... After going untouched for about 3 years, I'm gonna use this thing to chronicle my life here on the Gulf Coast. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
An outlet for my daily stress has to be a good thing, right? :)
An outlet for my daily stress has to be a good thing, right? :)
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