r/pharmacy

Have been a pharmacist for close to 20 years but unfortunately has a disciplinary issue on my pharmacy license so now even if I’m offered a job and they do the background check on me and it this pops up against my license, NO ONE would hire me. What should I do now? Get a different degree? I need help. Thanks.

Moving to hospital and trying to see if it is worth it.

It is in a rural area In texas. I work retail right now with 68$/ hour. The hospital job is $65 and it is a small hospital.

Is this very low? It is non-negotiable pay. I don't have residency or prior experience and I had many rejected applications before.

How much is the usual pay?

I've been in Pharmacy in the US for 17 years and I'm ready for something new, I have been getting ads to go to New Zealand as there is a big need for pharmacists. I was looking at the Pharmacy Council site and it is saying I can get licensed in NZ via the Recognized Equivalent Qualification Route by taking the CAOP exam, but there is also a box saying that the Pharmacy Council is removing the exam requirement. Is there anyone with any insight regarding this? They only offer the exam 3 times a year, so removing the exam requirement will make the move a lot more convenient and less expensive (I'm sure that is part of why they are removing the requirement).

Also, are there any pharmacists that have made the move from the US to NZ who can give some more info about how pharmacy and life in NZ compares to the US? My wife is in education but only works part time. The salary in NZ is significantly less than in the US, can a family live on just a pharmacist salary?

I'm sure everyone has heard how you should always be semi- looking for your next job.

I just soft phone screened at a staffing agency and it was horrible!! Now I'm thinking maybe current current isn't so bad.

Stay humble (sad face)

Do any of your hospitals use dispense prep for dispenses other than sterile compounds like premixes, unit dose first doses, unit dose cart fill etc?

If so, where do you use it? did it add a lot of time to these processes and did you see a return on that time investment with less errors? Does anyone run every dispense through dispense prep?

“the hospital is not sharing much information about how this drug mix-up happened. We've been told it happened in the pharmacy where instead of putting an anesthetic called bupivacaine into the syringes used in these procedures, somehow they were filled with potassium”

Looking at a specialist job in a large academic medical center and there is a weekend requirement. Where I’m from, specialists usually don’t have a weekend requirement, so this is new to me. Is this normal? Do you or anyone you know who is a clinical pharm specialist have a weekend requirement? If so, how often? For background, it’s an emergency medicine pharm specialist.

Back at the beginning of July I interviewed for a pharmacy manager position for a grocery store pharmacy (Shaw's if anyone is curious). They gave me the offer immediately during the interview, but I ended up backing out for financial reasons. This week, I got an email from them again saying they're revising the offer to increase the hourly rate and to give a large sign-on bonus. While I'm definitely interested in these new numbers, I also am unsure if I should be suspicious of this. It feels like they're desperate to fill the role, but I'm not sure why. On paper, the position looks like a flat upgrade from my current manager role at Walgreens, but something about this feels off. (also, if anyone here has any experience with what working at the pharmacy in a Shaw's is like, lmk!)

I'm just curious. What are NSAIDs called in your country? In Italy we call it FANS (Farmaci Antinfiammatori Non Steroidei)

Im in a country that has no access to diltiazem cream but has access to diltiazem. This is indicated for anal fissure.

I tried to use crushed diltiazem tables in a motar and pestle, glycerine as levitating agent, geometric dilution with vaseline.

The problem is vaseline is very difficult to mix and sticks everywhere. It took hours to mix in the motar and I'm not even confident enough it's uniform consistency enough to use it.

Please recommend better ingredients

Has anyone done this before?

Context: I love my job in the hospital however it’s quite the drive, doesn’t pay well, and the schedule isn’t the best. I never get to see my son at night. The specialty pharmacist position, is a set schedule, much much closer and much less stress.

I don’t want to lose the clinical skills I’ve gained here but I’m tired of never seeing my family and driving far.

How do you like specialty? are there clinical aspects to it? If so, how much? Etc.

Advice needed, appreciate you all

If you have a medication on your formulary but it requires PA, is the pt able to see the clinical criteria used to determine approval?

In the past I thought an individual reviewed it with their "medical judgement" but my understanding now is there is written clinical guidelines used.

Are pts able (and more importantly, legally entitled) to see this prior to submitting a PA (or receiving a denial)? The PA process takes time with back and forth and it would be nice to have the clinical information available when visiting with the prescribing physician so they can articulate the reasoning having known the clinical criteria.

Or do provider portals for the big PBM have it available for review when a provider submits a PA, just not visible for insured members?

Hi y’all,

I recently started working 7on/7off overnights at my hospital since I wanted nothing to do with the day shift and simply cannot sleep early enough to wake up for it.

Just wanted to know what y’all do to adjust to a normal sleep schedule after finishing your week on, thanks!

What are your thoughts on this article by the AMA? They’re framing if as an opposition to expanding scope of practice, but the article uses anecdotal examples that make it seem like pharmacists are incompetent hacks who should have a more restricted scope of practice than what they have now.

Dang my chain pharmacy got my dumbass bro, I actually played myself tbh. When I graduated, I did the sign on bonus where they gave me a lot of money upfront and I had to agree to work for them for two years. I didn’t get licensed within the required time though, so I was under the assumption that I was paying the money back, per what my lead sent me at the time.

Fast forward about a year and a half later, I finally get fully licensed and I’m thinking I don’t owe them that time anymore. My lead called me to say that pretty much I do since I didn’t start repaying them back. Now I’m in confusion because I took a huge demotion since I wasn’t licensed in time. Now I have to go fulltime to waive it or if I stay part time I pay the amount back through my checks.

Im waiting for her to get back me to me since she escalated it for me to find out what I have to do, but I guess I’ll just go fulltime and give the two years. It’s pretty frustrating because I told myself not to take the sign on bonus and here I am now 😭 don’t be like me people!!!!

EDIT TO ADD: when I spoke to my district lead about not getting licensed in time I was told money would come from my checks to begin paying back, so that’s why I was under that assumption. I had to retake my exam more than once and that’s why it took sometime for me to be licensed.

& I am not! I’m not ashamed to admit it. Maybe it’s just the company I’m working for? Currently a floater and I cannot stand it. So unorganized and not a great environment for anyone that’s “new” to train in. I know it takes time to get use to things but dang. 1 week of training and then you’re technically on your own…. Also I went to a few stores where techs are working through the break. As I said, some people are made for this so all props to them but how is that ok? I guess by now you may have figured out what store I’m referring to…. Has anyone been in this position and pivoted? Any advice would be great. Currently looking and applying to other jobs. Thanks for reading this far, just had to get it off of my chest.