Pharmacy technicians should do their best to render the best service possible and ensure smooth operations at the pharmacy.
A pharmacy technician’s duties could vary from managing inventory, checking system for ordered prescriptions, maintaining patient profiles to answering phone calls, greeting patients, filling prescriptions, and even processing insurance claims.
Pharmacy technicians do not have the knowledge to provide medical advice to patients. However, they acquire enough expertise in medications and health information to expertly assess a patient’s situation.
In this article, you’ll learn about all the duties of a professional pharmacy technician.
Work Environment
Hospitals, retail pharmacy stores, long term care facilities, mail order facilities, and medical supply companies could employ pharmacy technicians in a number of different settings.
Some technicians prefer to work a typical 9 to 5 shift from Monday through Friday, and then there are those who choose to work with pharmacies that are open 24/7. And they’re generally required to work even on weekends and holidays.
The Ratio of Pharmacy Technicians to Pharmacists
The law varies from one state to another when it comes to a suitable number of pharmacy technicians a pharmacy can deploy. However, the ratio can range from 2:1 to 3:10 in comparison to pharmacists.
The purpose of keeping a low pharmacy technician ratio is to avoid negligence and mistakes in authenticating drug prescriptions.
Duties of Certified Pharmacy Technicians in a Hospital
There are a few added responsibilities that a pharmacy technician may have to carry out under the supervision of a pharmacist.
The added job responsibilities include tracking and maintaining narcotic inventory, preparing sterile mixture and IV, taking necessary measures for chemotherapy treatment, and parenteral nutrition.
A pharmacy technician can also consider the work of other technicians to see medication delivery methods throughout the hospital and nursing floors. Also, they can learn the use of the medication delivery system as an automated dispensing device.
Proper Dress Code
Retail pharmacies don’t fixate on a strictly formal look for pharmacy technicians, but most hospitals generally require certified pharmacy technicians to appear professional. Furthermore, the dress code should fit with the establishment’s guidelines for basic safety and cleanliness.
A pharmacy technician may have to scrub floors, get foot covers, hair bonnets, and wear masks or goggles. Moreover, they’re also required to be closed toe as a safety measure to ensure adequate work surroundings and sanitation.
Dispensing Medication
Pharmacy technicians should inspect the nursing stations or automatic dispensing devices to make sure that all medications are up to date with a hospital’s policy and required law.
And if the hospital decides to switch to a pneumatic tube system, the dispensing service would have to be loaded manually.
Cleaning Items
There’s always the possibility that the items used to measure, count, and pour medication might be contaminated. A pharmacy technician’s duty also involves cleaning out at the trays, measurement tools, and spatulas at least once a day.
Since penicillin or sulfa antibiotics are known to create allergies in the hospital surroundings, a pharmacy technician should always be wary of ‘when’ to clean. Moreover, pharmacies sometimes use separate trays for different doses of medication to avoid any unnecessary dirt.
The concerned areas of interest for a pharmacy technician may include removing trash from the pharmacy, vacuuming the floor of the pharmacy, wiping general technological devices, cleaning the seating area throughout the facility, and of course, cleaning all the tools.
Effective Communication
To resolve patients’ doubts and confusions a certified pharmacy technician depends on a lot of interaction with patients.
A pharmacy technician is commonly expected to settle insurance claims, refer patients to expert pharmacists and inform patients on details of their medication.
Preceptor
Pharmacy preceptor refers to teachers and mentors and individuals who are willing to be pharmacy trainees. A pharmacy technician may have to undergo a training process under a pharmacist to get a preceptor certification.
Also, pharmacy technicians should be open when mentoring students and assessing their performance.
Need help preparing for your PTCB
PTCB Math: How to Pass | Essential Tips and Strategies
The idea of computing and solving PTCB math problems might come as a surprise to a pharmacy technician, but these
Pharmacy Technician Requirements By State
If you want to work as a pharmacy technician, you’ll need to understand what the requirements are for your state
2020 PTCB Certification Changes | Everything You Need to Know
The Pharmacy Technician Certified Board (“PTCB”) exam can be one of the most significant obstacles preventing you from achieving your
PTCB Exam Study Tips | How to Pass with Confidence
There are currently more than 402,000 pharmacy technicians working throughout the United States. Are you interested in becoming one of them? It
How To Become A Pharmacy Technician (Without School)
We’ve all seen them before. Pharmacies are in every retail store imaginable. All of those Pharmacies have several key employees
Pharmacy Licensure vs. Certification: What You Need to Know
One of the questions we get all the time is regarding the differences between licensure and certification. Let’s have a
