reflections on my first weekend alone in the satellite pharmacy

I think it says something that it took me until Wednesday to write a post about my weekend... It was a stressful time for me.  I think I called one of the other pharmacists at least 30 times in two days.  Said pharmacist was very patient and I am very very very grateful that I had a person to call with all of my many many questions. Despite this resource however, I did not perform my tasks without flaw.  Another pharmacist who worked the Monday after me came yesterday to talk to me about a couple of things that I could have done better over the weekend.  At first I was really freaked out and upset because I couldn't figure out how I had overlooked the items in question but I decided to be proactive and go look at the binder I worked on and try to figure out where I had gone wrong.  Now I of course do not want to disclose any specifics so I will just say that I understand what happened and I could have done things better but I have shifted from feeling totally inadequate to just feeling somewhat inadequate.  I didn't cause any major issues or harm but I do have a greater appreciation for just how careful I have to be.  I think that is the most challenging thing about being a new pharmacist... always throughout school there was someone to double check my work and make sure I didn't do anything dumb. Honestly, it was kind of annoying sometimes that I couldn't do anything without a double check... BUT, now I would be thrilled to have someone check my work...

The biggest issue in my current staffing role is how many things (answer phone, therapeutic drug monitoring [TDM], order entry, nurse questions) need to be done with complete accuracy... There are so many distractions it can be tough to even get any one thing accomplished before being interrupted.  But I digress.  I knew what I was getting into in general, I just had no idea how I would feel about it. I mean, it really is scary to have so much riding on my abilities.  I have such a better appreciation for why some pharmacists are so funny about what job functions they will let students perform.  I have a hard enough time keeping track of what I am doing, let alone what someone else is doing under my license...

So, that was kind of a long verbal emesis session but I felt the need to give a true report.  I am trying not to be discouraged and I am telling myself that it will get easier.  I'm really glad that I am in an environment where the other pharmacists are supportive and constructive with feedback because I can't imagine how unbearable it would be to go through this learning curve if the people weren't constantly reminding me that it IS a learning curve.

On a lighter note -- it is still really cool to me that I am actually a pharmacist and I did several things this weekend that were good.  I made some interventions on orders that came through and overall I think my net impact on the hospital was positive.  For my first weekend I guess that's not too bad.

That's all for tonight kids.

goodnight