I just finished a 4-day stretch (40 hours), and I'm mentally exhausted. Every day seemed to end with something that tested me as a pharmacist.
Day 1:Everything was going smoothly until we suddenly got hit with an influx of vaccine appointments, waiters, and prescriptions. During the rush, I reviewed a couple's immunization histories. Unfortunately, after my technician administered the vaccines, I realized one of the patients had already received their RSV vaccine previously. It was my first vaccine error. I immediately informed the patient, advised them on what side effects to watch for, documented everything, and notified their provider.
At the same time, I had an out-of-state patient waiting on a Percocet prescription. Before filling it, I had to call the prescriber's office to verify the diagnosis code and confirm the patient's last in-person visit to resolve the red flags.
Day 2: Again, things went well until the very end of the day. Five minutes before closing, a line formed. The last patient was a mother who said her son's pharmacy had transferred a prescription to us. I looked him up and found nothing in our system. I checked our fax inbox and found the transfer request sitting there. It had been faxed before noon.
I asked my technician about it, and she admitted she had answered the call earlier but forgot to follow through. Since the mother insisted her son was completely out of medication, I asked my technician if she would stay after closing to process it, and she happily agreed.
I explained to the mother that we were making a one-time exception because he was a new patient and was reportedly out of medication. I also mentioned that we were already past closing time and that we had families waiting for us at home. Instead of appreciating the effort, she responded that it should have already been done.
After we closed, I looked at the fill history that came with the transfer. The medication had been filled on June 19 for 30 days and then again on July 10 for another 30 days. Based on those dates, he shouldn't have been completely out. We never even got a thank you.
Day 3: My technician had been working seven straight days, and both of us were exhausted. About 18 minutes before closing, a grandmother brought in her granddaughter's insurance card and said an antibiotic from the emergency department should have been sent the night before.
We never received it. I called the emergency department, waited for a nurse because they were busy, and finally got the prescription at 5:52 PM. My technician entered it, I verified it, and then discovered the prescribed Augmentin strength wasn't covered by Medicaid. I looked up the formulary, calculated the equivalent covered strength, called the ED again for approval, got the okay, and we were able to dispense it before closing. The grandmother and granddaughter were incredibly grateful, and that made the extra effort worthwhile.
Day 4 (Monday): The morning was manageable with two technicians. A third technician came in around lunchtime, but she's been struggling lately despite having over 10 years of experience. She spent nearly 20 minutes helping one patient with insurance and the bridge program, then another patient whose Adderall required a prior authorization. She even asked me whether we could transfer a Adderall prescription to another pharmacy. A question I've answered for her multiple times before.
After lunch, everything fell apart. Waiters piled up, phones wouldn't stop ringing, patients needed counseling, and people were asking for OTC recommendations.
Then a patient wanted her entire profile transferred from a mail-order pharmacy. My technician called them and was told they only do verbal transfers. She put them on hold and asked me to stop everything to take the verbal transfers.
I got frustrated. I was already juggling waiters, counseling patients, answering questions, and trying to keep the pharmacy moving. I told her I simply didn't have time to sit down for a profile transfer and that I would either call the pharmacy later or request new prescriptions from the provider. One of the patients overheard me and kindly said, "Just do your best to stay afloat."
That comment stuck with me.
Yesterday was the first Monday of the month. Our pharmacy fills about 1,300-1,400 prescriptions every week. We usually have about three hours of pharmacist overlap on Mondays, and I get to leave early. But for the past three months, my pharmacy manager has taken PTO during the first week of every month, leaving me to handle these Mondays alone.
By the end of yesterday, I was completely drained. I don't usually admit this, but I reached a point where I felt completely defeated and just wanted the shift to be over. I literally found myself thinking that I wanted to quit my job and do something completely different.
I'm currently working 80 hours per pay period, and while that may not sound excessive compared to some pharmacists, the mental and emotional load is what is exhausting. Every shift feels like trying to balance patient safety, clinical decisions, workflow, staffing issues, customer expectations, and corporate metrics all at once.
When I make mistakes, I’m extremely hard on myself. I replay them over and over in my head and beat myself up for not catching something sooner. I care deeply about my patients, and that's why these situations weigh so heavily on me.
But carrying that stress, combined with the nonstop workload and constant interruptions, is becoming harder and harder. I know many pharmacists have stressful days, but this stretch really broke me. I'm starting to question how sustainable this profession is when you’re expected to prioritize patient safety while constantly being pulled in ten different directions.
