Controlled Medications

The pharmacy received a package of medications on Wednesday, and these medications were the pharmacy’s stock bottles. I placed the San Jose Clinic labels on these medications and then placed them in their proper locations on the shelves. The package also contained controlled medications, which are medications that have a high potential for abuse and can be habit forming and thus, are kept in a locked safe separate from the rest of the medications. When I began filling prescriptions for the day, one of the prescriptions I had to fill was a controlled medication. The protocol for filling controlled medications is that they must be counted twice and then be checked by the pharmacist. I therefore, counted the pills and made sure it was the correct amount that I was placing in the bottle. This made me realize that such stringent protocols are in place because people actually do abuse medications and that is why these controlled substances are placed in a locked safe and must be counted several times before they are dispensed to the patients. Medications are thus, only beneficial when they are taken properly; they must be the correct amount and the correct dosage. Therefore, as the pharmacy staff, we must follow all the protocols laid out to ensure that patients do not face any health risks.

Patient Encounter

I had my first patient encounter at the San Jose pharmacy this past Wednesday when a patient came to pick up her refills. I verified the patient’s ID with the ID that was on the prescription and recorded the number of refills she was picking up along with the prescription numbers. This was to ensure that the right patient was receiving the correct medications that were prescribed to them. The prescription numbers were recorded on the pick-up log sheet in order to prevent any problems in the future in case the patient thinks they did not pick up their medications. When the patient, was signing for her prescriptions, she informed us that she wanted to pick up her refill for her cholesterol medications since she was completely out. The pharmacy, however, did not have the particular medication that the patient usually takes in stock. Since this medication was a maintenance drug and it was important that the patient take it on a daily basis, the pharmacist thus, substituted another cholesterol medication and gave that to the patient instead. This made me realize how important particular medications are to patients because without these medications, the patients can potentially face serious health risks.

The missing package insert

This past Wednesday, the pharmacy received a package of medications that was missing the insert so the pharmacy did not know who the medications belonged to. Therefore, the pharmacist asked me to contact Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, which sent the medications as part of the prescription assistance program. I called the company and once I gave them the package’s tracking number, I was given the list of patients so I wrote down the names and what medications belonged to each patient. After I received the names, the pharmacy was able to process the medications in their system. This made me realize that there is a lot that needs to be taken care of before any prescription is actually dispensed to the patients at the clinic. Medications are ordered through the prescription assistance program, and then the medications are sent to the clinic where they are processed into the computer system before they can be given to the patients. All of this is possible only when everyone is doing their jobs, and this made me realize that I also serve an important role as a volunteer.

Busy Day

When I went in to the pharmacy on Wednesday, I was asked to shred some old prescription labels. I realized that prescription labels have important information about the patient such as their address and what medication they are taking. Therefore, in order to protect the patient’s privacy, it is important to properly dispose of such documents so that others do not get a hold of the information. After I was done shredding the old labels, I began to fill the new prescriptions. It was a really busy day; the other pharmacy technician kept receiving new orders and printing the prescriptions, and I was constantly filling one prescription after the other. I noticed that there was one particular medication that I was constantly filling and that medication was metformin, which is a drug that is used to control type II diabetes. This made me realize that diabetes is a really prevalent disorder and that this medication is very important to help patients control their blood sugar and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Importance of Maintenance Drugs

This past Wednesday at the San Jose Pharmacy, I was again asked to help with the PAP (Prescription Assistant Program) re-orders. I walked into the pharmacy and the pharmacist handed me a packet, which had a list of all the patients who were eligible to have their medications re-ordered.  All the patients on the list were separated according to their physicians, so I logged onto the computer system and began placing the re-orders. As I was going through the list, I noticed that a lot of the prescriptions that I was re-ordering were prescriptions such as Lisinopril or Accupril, which are used to treat high blood pressure. I realized how important these prescriptions are because they work as maintenance drugs for these patients and allow them to maintain a healthy living. Therefore, it is crucial for these patients to have these medications on a daily basis. It is very important for everyone working in the pharmacy to make sure that when these patients run out of their medications, we have already re-ordered it for them so they do not have to go without their medicine.

Ordering Prescriptions

Since the pharmacy was not as busy as it usually is on Wednesdays, the pharmacist asked me to re-order prescriptions for patients through the Prescription Assistant Program. As I mentioned before, the Prescription Assistant Program is a program that provides medications to those patients who cannot afford to buy their own. Through this program, the San Jose Clinic receives most of its medications for free. The pharmacist showed me how to log on to the computer system and how to place the orders. The pharmacist then gave me a list of patients who had prescriptions that needed to be re-ordered, so I searched for them in the system under their physician’s name. I also made sure that I was ordering the correct medication of the correct strength before I placed the order. I got to experience what it is like working behind the scenes in a pharmacy and getting a feel of what all goes into getting a prescription dispensed to a patient. Again, everyone’s roles are important in keeping the work flow of the pharmacy in order.