Did you know that if you are placed in a certain pharmacy locations as a pharmacist, you may have to close the store?
Broader Responsibilities
Working as a pharmacist is a position of great responsibility, as you probably already know well if you’ve ever worked as a pharmacist. The obvious responsibility involves procuring and checking prescriptions for patients. But depending on which pharmacy you are placed in to work, you may be expected to take on additional tasks related to the function of the pharmacy, including the opening and closing of pharmacy premises.
If you are closing a pharmacy, you may be expected to secure the cash from the register, set store alarms, and lock up the outside of the store. Conversely, if your shift is at the beginning of a pharmacy’s opening hours, you may have to open the store with a physical key or entry code, open up doors, turn off alarms, and reinstate cash in the register. Cash handling could involve working with armoured guards/drivers who transport money between the pharmacy’s bank and the pharmacy premises.
It’s very important that you take these responsibilities seriously, as the client is depending on you to secure the store and ensure that no money is lost.
Working With On-Site Colleagues
Sometimes you will be assisted as a pharmacist by other pharmacy personnel. Perhaps the most ideal situation would be that you start working with team of many licensed pharmacists. This kind of setup would ease the load of incoming scripts from patients of course. But you cannot expect this with every pharmacist position you work at! You may have one or more regulated pharmacy technicians (RPhTs) assisting you with the checking and procuring of maintenance drugs, which would mean you could focus on checking more specialized prescriptions. You could be assisted by pharmacy assistants, who would be able to manage the cashing out of customers at the point of sale area of the pharmacy. But there are occasions when you will have none of the assistance listed above. In these cases, you will have to manage every aspect of the pharmacy’s operations: inventory, cashing out patients, drug procurement, bagging, labelling, checking for drug incompatibilities, and working with the pharmacy’s software system. Above all, we recommend that you do your research and prepare yourself for the responsibilities of every shift.
