Pharmacy Technicians in Pharmacy Practice
Pharmacy practice is a patient care centered service. It aims to ensure quality, efficiency safe, and cost-effectiveness of medication to patients is prioritized. Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are responsible for delivering in pharmacy practice. Pharmacists are more skilled, and they are tasked to person different duties from those of pharmacy technicians. Pharmacists have extensive knowledge about medications, and they are in charge of pharmacy technicians. Pharmacy technicians are of different types depending on their specialties with the examples of chemotherapy, compounding, sterile products, and procurement. Pharmacy technicians, therefore, depending on tasks they perform work in different environments. In whichever situation they work, pharmacy technicians are under supervision by pharmacists. Some work in retail pharmacies. In retail pharmacies operating hours are flexible, and they spend much time filling prescriptions. They fill in prescriptions and can perform administrative duties and cleaning tasks when required.
Some work in compounding pharmacies. They have to be certified and understand compounding techniques and be competent in mathematics. Pharmacy technicians can also work in a hospital setting. In this environment, they spend most of the time preparing prescriptions. They can also work in nursing homes and mail-order pharmacies. It is clear that they work in varied conditions, but in all cases, they are working to meet patient medication needs. In some environments, unlike others, time is flexible. In all situations, pharmacy technicians are always on the move.
Pharmacy technicians have proven to be vital in healthcare provision. They support the delivery of safe and effective medication to patients. They facilitate that by doing calculations involved in compounding and dispensing. They keep patient records, inventories, and orders and work with patients to prepare sterile medications for dispensing. They make and fill prescriptions. They also provide patients with the necessary information about drugs they are distributing. The scope of work for pharmacy technicians is expanding because they are now relied on by pharmacists to offer support to improve patient care.
For the pharmacy technicians to take on more roles, it is necessary for them also advance in their knowledge. In filling in prescriptions, there are changes from traditional medicine. Traditionally, pharmacists cross-checked the orders after filling by pharmacy technicians, but in modern practice, the process is counterchecked by another technician. The counterchecking is helping reduce errors that happen during prescription filling and contributed to patient safety and improved experiences. With the new procedure, pharmacists have more time to attend to patient needs, and this has significantly improved patient care. They assist with medication reconciliation. With certification, pharmacy technicians are more determined to take on new tasks and get more satisfaction from the job. Following their advancing roles, there is a rise in demand for them. Pharmacy technicians’ pay is relatively lower than that of pharmacists. Therefore, if they are allowed to take up more roles, many of them will get jobs under the supervision of fewer pharmacists, and this will help in reducing the cost of medical services, which is a goal in patient-based pharmacy practice.
In the pharmacy technician profession, there are several things I find interesting. The job involves working with people, which makes work exciting. Also, as technicians, they work to help patients get well, and this strikes to be intensively satisfying. They work they do hands-on, and this is highly intriguing to people who like working with their hands. They have a lot of duties in the workplaces, therefore, they do not have to do an activity repetitively and get bored. They have a variety of fields they can venture into; community practice, retail, and hospital. The pharmacy technicians are, therefore, flexible in choosing what suits their interests. The pharmacy technician work under the supervision of pharmacists, and through this, they can gain knowledge day in day out, making the working experience also a learning one. The levels of knowledge required to practice as a pharmacy technician are low, which makes it a profession to venture easily. Considering all setups a pharmacy technician can work in, and I find hospital setting to be exciting because it poses different challenges to an individual as they work.
In conclusion, pharmacy practice has evolved, and the move to involve pharmacy technicians in executing a more advanced role is a good move. Safety and experiences with medications are now possible to meet because of the unwavering support pharmacists get from pharmacy technicians. Accuracy in the final check of prescriptions has dramatically improved. A large number of pharmacy technicians in hospitals have specialized in services they offer, and a large number of them work in retail. With the noted trend of organizations preferring to hire pharmacy technicians to pharmacists because they feel like they perform the same tasks, disputes are witnessed between pharmacists and technicians. The issue has caused an insistence on certification for pharmacy technicians for them to take on advanced roles. Strictly, pharmacy technicians should work under supervision.
References
Mattingly, A. N., & Mattingly, T. J. (2018). Advancing the role of the pharmacy technician: A systematic review. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 58(1), 94–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2017.10.015
Shane, R. (2011). Advancing technician roles: An essential step in pharmacy practice model reform. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 68(19), 1834–1835. https://doi.org/10.2146/ajhp110445
Wheeler, J. S., Renfro, C. P., Wang, J., Qiao, Y., & Hohmeier, K. C. (2019). Assessing pharmacy technician certification: A national survey comparing certified and noncertified pharmacy technicians. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, 59(3), 369-374.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2018.12.021
Wheeler, J. S., Gray, J. A., Gentry, C. K., & Farr, G. E. (2020). Advancing pharmacy technician training and practice models in the United States: Historical perspectives, workforce development needs, and future opportunities. Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy, 16(4), 587–590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2019.05.005