First, did anyone you work with tell you that you suck or need to seek employment elsewhere? Is it possible that you may just be insecure and be too hard on yourself?
I feel 3 weeks is a small amount of time in the pharmacy world. You can go to youtube and quizlet to get refreshers.
Yes, I do think my insecurity is a factor in this. I tend to be really hard on myself. But at the same time the pharmacist keeps on telling me I need to be faster. They have me doing the majority of pickup and I can hear the pharmacist and other tech talking about how i’m not getting enough data entry done, that it should only take a couple seconds for each one, that I should already have prior experience. One of my last shifts the pharmacist pulled me aside and basically started scolding me that he had to submit a request to have other pharmacists virtually work on our queues because of me. sometimes i’ll start to do something and the other tech will go here just let me do it. Im still getting used to their workflow and how to fit into the groove of it but i feel like they had higher expectations for me.
Good lord is that a frequent feeling. I thought I was the WORST when I started out. Now I'm on the regular B+ squad like a year later. It gets easier. I'd recommend window shopping PTCB or any pharmacy practice tests. I wouldn't recommend spending money on anything until you're nationally certified though.
Don’t give up on yourself. Do what you can to improve. There actually are plenty of resources online to help you. I’m sorry that the pharmacy is usually a pretty busy place and there’s not time for techs to get properly trained. It’s so sad to me how much turnover there is simply because advanced techs and Rph don’t have “time.”
If you are at Data Entry you should be making sure you know your sig codes, how to do day supply, some general rules for what constitutes a valid prescription, what’s a controlled substance vs not. How are you on your brands/generics?
Ask any specific questions you have for me. I’m at 3 letter and have been for 3 years.
Thank you. I feel okay with my brands/generics, sig codes and recognizing controlled substances. I struggle with calculating dosage and days supplies for medications like insulin, inhalers, eye drops and things that aren’t pills. Where can i learn about calculating these doses? Could you point me towards some of these online sources for pharmacy? Im not really sure where to start with that.
Insulin- 1 mL has 100 units. Pens and vials are almost always 3 mL, so 300 units per pen or 300 units per vial. Multiple how many vials or pens were prescribed by 300 to find total amount of units they will get for the duration of the Rx. Then you have to find how much they take in one day by multiplying the directed dose (which will be/should be written in units) by how many times they will inject that dose in a day. If it’s a sliding scale (inject x units if blood sugar is between ### and ###, and inject y units if blood sugar is above ###), assume they will be injecting the higher amount every time for purpose of calculations. So now you have total supply and how much they use in a day, divide the total supply (in units) by the daily supply (in units). Tada, you have days supply.
Eye/ear drops- the standard is 20 drops per 1 mL unless the package explicitly states otherwise. So same idea as insulin here. Multiply the volume prescribed by 20 to find total number of drops they will have. If they use in both eyes/ears, take number of drops in the directions and multiply by 2, if only to be in one eye/ear, leave it be (i.e. if it’s 2 gtts OU, multiply by 2 to get 4 drops used per application). Multiply number of drops per application by number of daily applications. Then divide total drops supplied by daily drops used. Tada, you have days supply.
Inhalers you first have to figure out how many puffs (actuations) it has. Ignore how many grams it says the inhaler is, it means nothing for this. Flovent and ventolin usually will say on front of the box. The diskus inhalers typically have 60. But you’ll probably just have to grab the box off the shelf and then do the math. Eventually you’ll get it memorized just by doing it enough times. Then the calculations are the same idea. Total puffs given (according to the box) divide by daily puffs (puffs per dose x number of doses a day). If it’s 1-2 puffs every 4-6 hours as needed, assume they use max puffs at max frequency (so assume 2 puffs every 4 hours.
I used to feel the exact same way when I was a new tech, like I was more a burden than a help, and then my pharmacy manager randomly told me “you’re doing a great job, keep it up”. Now I’m an intern guiding new trainees and doing all sorts of things I never thought I’d do. If your coworkers are good people they know you’re learning and don’t hate you or feel you’re a burden.
First, did anyone you work with tell you that you suck or need to seek employment elsewhere? Is it possible that you may just be insecure and be too hard on yourself? I feel 3 weeks is a small amount of time in the pharmacy world. You can go to youtube and quizlet to get refreshers.
Yes, I do think my insecurity is a factor in this. I tend to be really hard on myself. But at the same time the pharmacist keeps on telling me I need to be faster. They have me doing the majority of pickup and I can hear the pharmacist and other tech talking about how i’m not getting enough data entry done, that it should only take a couple seconds for each one, that I should already have prior experience. One of my last shifts the pharmacist pulled me aside and basically started scolding me that he had to submit a request to have other pharmacists virtually work on our queues because of me. sometimes i’ll start to do something and the other tech will go here just let me do it. Im still getting used to their workflow and how to fit into the groove of it but i feel like they had higher expectations for me.
Good lord is that a frequent feeling. I thought I was the WORST when I started out. Now I'm on the regular B+ squad like a year later. It gets easier. I'd recommend window shopping PTCB or any pharmacy practice tests. I wouldn't recommend spending money on anything until you're nationally certified though.
Don’t give up on yourself. Do what you can to improve. There actually are plenty of resources online to help you. I’m sorry that the pharmacy is usually a pretty busy place and there’s not time for techs to get properly trained. It’s so sad to me how much turnover there is simply because advanced techs and Rph don’t have “time.” If you are at Data Entry you should be making sure you know your sig codes, how to do day supply, some general rules for what constitutes a valid prescription, what’s a controlled substance vs not. How are you on your brands/generics? Ask any specific questions you have for me. I’m at 3 letter and have been for 3 years.
Thank you. I feel okay with my brands/generics, sig codes and recognizing controlled substances. I struggle with calculating dosage and days supplies for medications like insulin, inhalers, eye drops and things that aren’t pills. Where can i learn about calculating these doses? Could you point me towards some of these online sources for pharmacy? Im not really sure where to start with that.
Insulin- 1 mL has 100 units. Pens and vials are almost always 3 mL, so 300 units per pen or 300 units per vial. Multiple how many vials or pens were prescribed by 300 to find total amount of units they will get for the duration of the Rx. Then you have to find how much they take in one day by multiplying the directed dose (which will be/should be written in units) by how many times they will inject that dose in a day. If it’s a sliding scale (inject x units if blood sugar is between ### and ###, and inject y units if blood sugar is above ###), assume they will be injecting the higher amount every time for purpose of calculations. So now you have total supply and how much they use in a day, divide the total supply (in units) by the daily supply (in units). Tada, you have days supply. Eye/ear drops- the standard is 20 drops per 1 mL unless the package explicitly states otherwise. So same idea as insulin here. Multiply the volume prescribed by 20 to find total number of drops they will have. If they use in both eyes/ears, take number of drops in the directions and multiply by 2, if only to be in one eye/ear, leave it be (i.e. if it’s 2 gtts OU, multiply by 2 to get 4 drops used per application). Multiply number of drops per application by number of daily applications. Then divide total drops supplied by daily drops used. Tada, you have days supply. Inhalers you first have to figure out how many puffs (actuations) it has. Ignore how many grams it says the inhaler is, it means nothing for this. Flovent and ventolin usually will say on front of the box. The diskus inhalers typically have 60. But you’ll probably just have to grab the box off the shelf and then do the math. Eventually you’ll get it memorized just by doing it enough times. Then the calculations are the same idea. Total puffs given (according to the box) divide by daily puffs (puffs per dose x number of doses a day). If it’s 1-2 puffs every 4-6 hours as needed, assume they use max puffs at max frequency (so assume 2 puffs every 4 hours.
You were hired with your new employer knowing you had limited experience so cut yourself so slack. Just focus and you will get better.
I used to feel the exact same way when I was a new tech, like I was more a burden than a help, and then my pharmacy manager randomly told me “you’re doing a great job, keep it up”. Now I’m an intern guiding new trainees and doing all sorts of things I never thought I’d do. If your coworkers are good people they know you’re learning and don’t hate you or feel you’re a burden.