“Hey, how about a little advice for a young gun like myself?” It was shift change and I was barely six months out of pharmacy school. I just threw out that question to the other pharmacist leaving for the day to see what kind of response I’d get from him. The older experienced pharmacist who had the morning shift was about to head out of the pharmacy. It was early afternoon and he was eager to beat the traffic and go pick up his kids or whatever else was urgent that day other than simply leaving work.
As this pharmacist walked past me and headed for the pharmacy door he chimed in with his response. “Keep your humanity or get out of retail.” And as I yelled “what?” back to him as he walked out the door he turned back to me and added, “Don’t become a robot!” With that piece of advice the experienced pharmacist was gone for the day and I was the twenty something kid wondering exactly what he meant.
Fast-forward a decade later. Now I find a middle-aged Hispanic customer dropping off a prescription for an eardrop. It was expensive and he had no insurance. Within a few moments he took his prescription back and walked away as he learned the drops his doctor ordered for him would cost well over $100. I was barely even able to hear any of the conversation he had with the technician who was helping him and I neglected to intercede myself to help the man because I was hot and angry about a previous customer and busy with a lot of work at the same time.
Things were crazy and this other patient had really yelled at me and got under my skin. And several other patients were waiting for their medications. It was busy and I wasn’t in the mood to stop and think of a way to help the eardrop prescription man. I didn’t have the time (so I thought) and I was in a bad mood after a difficult phone conversation. It was one of those days. I simply distanced myself from the problem out of convenience. It was as if a little of my humanity had slipped away in the middle of that work shift.
As I thought about what happened later that night I realized I wasn’t the pharmacist I should have been earlier. I had let an opportunity to help someone slip away simply because I was busy and I was angry and I was tired and all the other excuses you can imagine I had for myself. Sure at the time it was too late to call his doctor for a replacement prescription anyway but I could have price matched another pharmacy or done something. That patient left with whatever ear issue he was suffering from because I didn’t take the time to help him. It wasn’t my finest moment at work. And to top it off I had raised my voice at another customer on the phone who angered me.
I sat there as the day slowed and it got close to closing time. I felt like I had turned into a filling machine that busy day. And I also felt like I had become a pharmacist that was simply doing a job and filling as fast as he could. I was no longer a professional. I was becoming exactly what that old pharmacist warned me not to do. I was becoming a robot!
It seems like you can be pushed to the limit at work these days in community pharmacy. Patients are angry and pushy. Drug seekers will test your last nerve. And dealing with so many of them means that you lose your humanity a little and simply question anything and everything that walks through the front doors. It is almost impossible to not let the job get to you at least on some level. And with dwindling corporate support you feel like you are on your own which is never a good feeling.
But I never wanted to become a filling machine. I don’t think of myself as a robot. Despite a common misconception by customers and employers alike pharmacists are human beings that have feelings. We need things like bathroom breaks and lunch. We aren’t merely checking machines that are immune to the madness that can surround us at work. All those corporate graphs and metrics seem to forget that little fact. We are still human!
I never want to lose my humanity when dealing with customers and patients. I don’t want to become jaded and fixated on filling that next prescription instead of stopping and listening to the patient who has a problem I can actually help them with at work. But sometimes you feel like forces out of your control cause you to lose your compassion or worse your humanity becomes a detriment as you let things bother you that shouldn’t at work.
I’ve learned that being human and the inevitable flaws that come with that distinction are at the same time a benefit and a detriment for pharmacists. We can relate to patients because we too are human. But the limitations of our humanity also means we can get angry and short with people as well. Humanity is at the same time a strength and a weakness.
And I now know what that pharmacist was trying to tell me that day with his quick nugget of advice. He wanted me to realize that I shouldn’t get too emotionally distant from my patients even if that means letting those emotions get the best of me occasionally because humanity helps us as pharmacists to serve and relate and appreciate the problems our patients have better than if we become emotionally distant and cold.
So I’m now learning to accept my shortcomings and realize that my emotions must be used in a positive way at work instead of becoming a detriment. I am learning to accept my humanity as a necessary aspect of my life and my work. I can’t effectively serve customers and patients if I become this robot pharmacist that some employers seemingly desire out of their employees. That isn’t what makes a good pharmacist great. Being human makes us special.
So it is time to really take that advice from a decade ago to heart. And I realize that he was right all those years ago. While on the one hand I must try to keep my emotions in check at work I can’t forget the human aspect of my job. I have to relate to people not as patients or customers but as human beings with feelings and emotions just like myself. It is great advice when you think about it. I don’t want to become that robot. I can’t lose one of the greatest edges a pharmacist has: being human.
The Redheaded Pharmacist
The Redheaded Pharmacist has been working full time in retail pharmacy for more than a decade. He is in his mid 30s, and, yes, he has red hair.
Disclaimer: This blog represents the opinions of the author and the author alone. It does not represent any pharmacy group or organization. I also will leave out or change the names of patients/customers to protect their privacy and comply with government regulations regarding patient privacy rights and personal information. The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
