I saw her walk down the aisle and took in the world of difference. She was radiant and glowing and with it and well. She's been a regular customer for years, and it wasn't always that way. I've seen her haggard and tired and world-weary. Once when it was obvious something was wrong I simply asked her how things were going and she burst into tears, anxious for someone to talk to. I call them "monkeywrench moments," moments when you know a person needs a good chunk of your time and you give it to them, knowing full well it's gonna throw a monkeywrench into the rest of your day. She got all the time she needed and I got a counter full of unfilled prescriptions and three phone calls on hold in return.
I've seen her battle the hold hydrocodone can put on a person and I've seen her forced to deal with mental health demons of the type I wouldn't wish on any person on this planet. Demons I've seen destroy people close to me, so I knew exactly how tough she was, even if she didn't know it herself. To her it was just getting through one more day. A couple months ago we had a talk about the risk of weight gain versus the possible benefit of a new med. Today as she picked up a refill it was obvious the benefits were winning. I made a joke about taking all the credit.
"You really did help me." she said with a look of earnest seriousness in her eyes. "You always answered my questions and never made me feel judged. Seriously, thank you."
Those last two words were worth more than the entirety of dollars that will show up in my paycheck this year my friends. Those last two words are the profession of pharmacy. And in this world of drive through prescriptions guaranteed in 15 minutes or less, of $1.50 dispensing fees and coupons for dog food given out with every flu shot, every once in awhile, like a weed that manages to poke through a crack in an asphalt covered parking lot, you'll still have a chance to actually practice pharmacy.
Take it. Grab that chance the way a starving bear grabs a piece of raw meat. It will most likely annoy your corporate masters, but I promise you it will be worth it.
Before she left she hugged me. The only time I've ever let a customer hug me. I figured we'd both earned it.
14 comments:
I think that we all live for these moments. It more than makes up for all the crap.
Rock and roll, DM. You made a difference in the life of one person, at least.
You are one of the good ones DM. That woman was extremely fortunate to find such a caring and competent pharmacist who was willing to give her the time and attention she needed, and you were lucky in turn to have your efforts rewarded by a truly appreciative customer. It's a shame that those moments are so very rare.
Reminds me of a family at my pharmacy. The father will look for me to give me updates on the family. It's a blessing to be able to be blessing. It really does make you forget how crappy moments of pharmacy.
Thanks for passing the special moments along, as well.
In over 35 years of pharmacy I've had many such moments, definitely weighted more from the first 28 years, before '8000pointsofcare' bought out the small chain where I worked. Sadly the chaos that is high-volume high speed chain pharmacy affects the people who need us most. The folks with true medical questions and concerns are the ones who actually notice how busy it is and don't want to interrupt while the bozos looking for the beer aisle have no problem.
ahhhh. sweet.
I think every pharmacist lives for those moments, moments of appreciation and providing real care to the patients. I've let a few (at least two) patients hug me and I actually didn't flinch (I normally hate touching people). You go DrugMonkey! Let's go across the street and get some scotch for you and some vodka for me! =)
Your blog title should be changed to "Your Pharmacist May Love You If He Had The Time."
Loved the POWER article so glad Drug Topics printed it. More glad I no longer for that horrid despicable chain...
My hat is off to you. She said" you...never made me feel judged" Many professionals never reached that level.
This good sh*t...in the pharmacy, every second counts, at least that is the jedi mind trick the management wants to believe. I say go at the speed of accuracy and get your thank yous where you can get it.
Is it just me or when those moments present themselves Time stops and you can focus on that person who truly needs your help. This is what we are trained for! Everything else can WAIT as far as I am concerned. And yes I pay for those moments in the manner of negative comments from store managers and staying way too late in order to finish my job but they are worth it!
I'm a veterinarian, and I occasionally call prescriptions into human pharmacies. I saw one of my patients this week for a chronic problem, for which I had called in two prescriptions with multiple refills (or so I thought... I've been wrong before).
The client had attempted to refill the prescriptions and was told she had only one on file. I called the pharmacy, figuring she was out of refills on the second, and found out she actually did indeed have two current prescriptions, both with multiple refills. The pharmacy tech told me several lies: your client must have brought in an old bottle (no, she phoned the pharmacy); she must have visited another branch (no, she didn't, and I believe her, because she is currently working three jobs to take care of herself, her kids, and her pets) and on and on. The truth is: no one cared one whit about my client.
Thank you for caring. Pharmacists like you are why pharmacists are my favorite human medical professionals. :-)
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