[sharpnikki3713]

I actually got fired for accidentally giving out the wrong prescription to a patient when I worked there. Because the store that I worked at was really busy and no help . We were all rushing around like a chicken with its head cut off. It only happened twice in 4 years I have worked there. Can I still work as a medical office administrator?

[JudyKayTee]

You can work at anything you want to work at if someone will hire you - that's going to be the problem.

You sound surprised that you were fired for giving someone a wrong prescription. My late husband owned and operated two Pharmacies. I'm amazed that, given the checks and balances, an error like this happened, no matter how busy you were.

I'm also amazed by your casual attitude about it.

[Oliver2011]

I was just wondering over the weekend how often this happens.

Someone has to be working on a software and hardware system that dispenses drugs without human interaction. It seems like the next possible progressive step.

[JudyKayTee]

Not in NY - still need human eyes. I interviewed and hired more than a handful of Pharm Techs. Then the whole "Is that a clerk or is that a Pharm Tech" question rises.

Pharm Techs are licensed in some States.

In NY a prescription HAS to be reviewed by a Pharmacist and there are both checks and balances. I simply don't understand this error, which potentially can be fatal.

[smearcase]

Even a fully automated, supposedly fail safe system will never totally get rid of human error. The prescribing Dr. or someone he delegates it too may enter the wrong information in the very first step.

My sister who is a nurse was given a dosage of blood thinning medicine by a pharmacy at twice the strength prescribed by her surgeon, which if she hadn't been alert and realized it, could have killed her.

I was given a bottle of pills with another person's name on the bottle. If the error hadn't been that glaring (such as the other person's pill in a bottle with my name on it) I possibly wouldn't have noticed.

No matter how much automation is introduced, accountability is the only safeguard for this and many other jobs. It sounds like your employer believes that too. That makes certain jobs very stressful and folks need to realize it before they accept the positions. Almost every possible job has at least one misstep that can get one fired. But in some jobs like the one here, even a "near miss" can do it. And as long as employees know upfront what they are getting into (some don't I'm sure), even if they don't, accountability is still a good thing.

[JudyKayTee]

My husband was a Pharmacist and was given a triple dose of insulin in the hospital, putting him into a coma. Yes, mistakes happen - but I see excuses for those mistakes, not accountability. That is the attitude that gets people fired.

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes, the last month in the states, I went to get several prescriptions refiled, I looked at one and it was just not the same pill I normally take, I asked the clerk and they said that it was just another type of the same pill. I asked to see the pharmacist, who acted like he did not have time to see me. So I stood in line at counter not allowing them to wait on other people till he came out. Turns out it was the wrong pills.

[teacherjenn4]

We mail order prescriptions in a 3 month supply as required by our insurance company. We received another person's prescriptions in the mail. She lived in another state. It took 3 days of phone calls trying to get these returned to the main pharmacy, and no one was nice. They finally sent ours out, and gave us an envelope to send hers back. Had we been criminals, we could have sold hers (pain meds) for a ton of money. Ours were just allergy meds and had never been mailed out.

[smearcase]

They (some I should say) treat the complaints as trivial like when they shorted me 90 pills on a 2 per day 90 day supply. Not even an apology, They hurry and fix it to get it behind them as quickly as possible, and I guess they pretend it never happened.
Meanwhile I go in the pharmacy (I don't go there anymore) and stand there while they yuk it up and talk about nonsense for 10 minutes expecting me to apologize for interrupting. This is in a very large national chain drug store.
I was in the store just shopping one day and the noise from the pharmacy was so loud it sounded like a clambake. The manager for the store was nearby and could hear it as well as I could. I asked him why he put up with it, he just laughed it off but then added that he had no supervisory authority over the pharmacy in his store. He gave me a phone number for the chief pharmacist located about 200 miles away who just laughed it off some more.
Evidently the demand for prescription medications is so high that they can get away with it, but another large chain (dept store with pharmacy) I deal with now is much better but they do close the whole pharmacy section for an hour for lunch anywhere between 11 AM and 2 PM, which seems a little strange. I know of the policy so I go there early or late PM to avoid the possibility of being delayed but I am certain many others are inconvenienced by that.

[JudyKayTee]

If anyone is unhappy with his/her Pharmacy he/she should locate an individually owned Pharmacy, not a chain. There are lots of Mom and Pop operations out there, the prices are competitive. The service is exceptional. Please don't hang all Pharmacists based on some bad experiences.

Thousands upon thousands of prescriptions are filled every day without error.

And, yes, an error should be reported to the Lead Pharmacist as well as the District Manager.

And I will add how important it is to take charge of your health care - check your prescriptions, ask why something is prescribed, be pro active.

Clunk - off my soapbox.

[Oliver2011]

If anyone is unhappy with his/her Pharmacy he/she should locate an individually owned Pharmacy, not a chain. There are lots of Mom and Pop operations out there, the prices are competitive. the service is exceptional. Please don't hang all Pharmacists based on some bad experiences.

Thousands upon thousands of prescriptions are filled every day without error.

And, yes, an error should be reported to the Lead Pharmacist as well as the District Manager.

And I will add how important it is to take charge of your health care - check your prescriptions, ask why something is prescribed, be pro active.

Clunk - off my soapbox.

"Yes, mistakes happen - but I see excuses for those mistakes, not accountability. That is the attitude that gets people fired."

I just have to say I love your stance on this subject!!

:)