Letters: May 2011

Key Points

POWER vs. stamina

I had never heard of Walgreens' POWER Program, but I can see Walmart (my employer) doing the same thing.

David Stanley's article summed up what I feel every day. Thank you!"

David Blazek, BS Pharm
ST. MARYS, PA.

Reality bites

I just read David Stanley's POWER article. I am extremely pleased that you published it. Although I never had the misfortune of working at a POWER store, working for Walgreens as a pharmacist is essentially the same everywhere. With its "proprietary metrics," it does NOT care about accuracy or safety. On more than one occasion, not just I but another staff pharmacist pointed out that the number of STARS reports (which are filled out when errors - I'm sorry, "quality events" - occur) was increasing with decreased staffing and increased pressure to verify not only our prescriptions but those filled at other stores in our district. It fell on deaf ears.

Drug Topics has cemented itself as the magazine I will continue to use as my only source of pharmacy news. Most magazines focus on the hopes of what pharmacy could be like and not on the actual reality. I applaud you for showing a glimpse into what pharmacists are dealing with, now that there isn't a shortage and we don't have to be wooed by employers.

I was fortunate enough to get away from Walgreens; now I'm employed with an independent who values me. I only wish the pharmacist who wrote to Mr. Stanley could escape his current situation.

Ann Greene, BS Pharm
NOTTINGHAM, PA