It's always been about the staffing
As long as pharmacists work in such understaffed conditions, the repeated promise of more time spent with the patient will never be a reality.
Key Points
Now it's 2011. The sad reality is that it's just not happening in retail chain pharmacy.
Don't get me wrong, I have always believed in it. I have counseled my patients, done complete and thorough DURs (drug utilization reviews), and practiced pharmacy in a professional and ethical manner, but the bottom line reads like this: If pharmacists are working either by themselves or with only 1 technician in a chain pharmacy with a drive-through window, the pharmacists are still required to perform nonprofessional duties. As long as pharmacists work under these conditions, nothing is going to change.
As we all know, some of these nonprofessional duties include:
This list goes on and on.
It's obviously about staffing. It has always been about the staffing, and no professional pharmacy organization wants to tackle this problem.
