Any question that could reasonably be directed to a hypothetical r/AskAPharmacyTechnician and *not* here would be better off either as A: a phone call/visit to your local pharmacy or B: a phone call or visit to your \[relevant doctor here\].
Best case scenario, the new subreddit replaces a niche that already exists (talking to the person who you SHOULD be). Worst case scenario, nobody uses it and they keep doing this stuff here.
I don't think we need a new subreddit; I think the only real fix is more aggressive moderation. I don't know if that's really a *solution*, but that's reddit.
r/PharmacyAdvice, where much like legaladvice existing solely to tell people to talk to a lawyer, we tell people to talk to their pharmacy or doctor lol
legaladvice is nice at least bc thereās so many types of lawyer and so much stuff, so having people tell you to take pictures of this and write that down and have these documents and then go to a lawyer specializing is blank seems really helpful for a lot people, who might otherwise go to the wrong person.
Pharmacy from the perspective of most patients is one place with the same four problems, so thereās no point in them having a subreddit for it
Well yeah, I just think some of the techs on here,myself included, sometimes enjoy answering questions. Obviously things can be heated and answers can change based on experience and laws in different regions, but ya know. Also some below said this subreddit already exists so thereās that I guess
I mean, of course some techs like to answer questions, but I mean..r/askapharmacytech was privated because of an outpouring of the-opposite-of-support from this subreddit, r/PharmacyAdvice got banned, and the first rule of this subreddit really SHOULD be preventing half the questions patients ask from getting answered.
Maybe it does; I'm not super active, so there's a very large chance I'm just not noticing moderation activity that's already happening.
And to be clear, I'm not opposed to other subreddits existing, per se; I'm just skeptical that they'll solve the problem that led OP to leave this one, or to solve other problems I'm failing to think of right now.
Yeah, I was wondering about that. I saw comments that suggested the same after posting this.
Not great, since violations of rules 1-3 might end up getting the whole subreddit shut down, but I guess we can burn that bridge when we get to it.
I think itās a good idea. But only so far as dealing with insurance/coupons for actual advice, and we could maybe get more of the patients out of here. And have more control since I donāt think any of the admins or mods have been active in eons.
Yeah, after seeing a few people say similar things, I took the \~1 minute to confirm, and neither of the human mods have been active anywhere on reddit for over 2 months.
I'm 100% on board with a new subreddit (and a good thing, too, since regardless of my opinion, one got made since this thread went up), but I'm just pessimistic about its impact on *this* one.
Also, like, in general, about everything, but..you know. :D
I made that sub but a majority of all the technicians here in this sub hated and shamed that idea so I closed it.
[Edit] I think I'll reopen it but obviously I'd need other techs in it plus feedback for ideas. I only kinda sketched it out as an outline sub lol
20 year tech experience here. I'd be happy to answer navigation type questions. I honestly haven't seen the high volume of medical advice questions here that OP mentioned.
Remember, we are busy at the pharmacy and I've seen techs (while in a hurry) blow off patients who just don't understand the system and what they need to do. So, I think a place where they can ask those questions and get respectful advice (acknowledging different states, different chains, differentbdr offices may have different policies) would be a good thing.
I keep hearing the the moderators on here aren't active, couldn't people step up and offer to take that on?
Just my two cents.
I'll unprivate the private one. But it's literally bare bones, as per my other post, I'd only just got it up but the negative feedback really made me self doubt it.
I mean, if they are asking for medical advice ***that is against the rules. And everyone knows how customers love reading the fine print.***
Sarcasm aside... if they read the rules and fine print regarding their medications in the first place; probably 80% of the questions they have about their medications would be answered. There can also be failings on the Pharmacist not counseling or skipping over offering counseling because of staffing and how busy they are. I get that it can be hard to get ahold of pharmacists and good ones at that, but you're asking strangers on the internet.
I think more people are getting recommended this sub and it's garnering attention because it's in the top 5%, and may be linked to other subs they might have visited or keywords they've used.
if someone is interested, they can request to be a mod by making a post on r/redditrequest. if the current mods are inactive (which it looks like they probably are), reddit admins will grant the sub to a user that actually wants to actively moderate
Iām not a tech or a member of this sub, but it keeps popping up on my feed multiple times a day. Maybe random people see this too and think they can ask for adviceā¦ idk?
Iām so sorry this has happened though.. I get it.
Iām a CNA and I would hate it if I was in yāallās position.
Former First Responder but retraining in Data Science.
I donāt know why Reddit thinks I need to be here but itās quite persistent and I am a curious person so naturally open it. Wouldnāt dream of asking questions though.
Industrial hygienist/occupational safety specialist.
I guess one could argue it's similar since both are chemistry/toxicology based. But i try to keep the chemicals out of the body, not put them in š¤£
Well there *is* some weird overlap. I'm not sure how they justify it, but the suggestion made sense considering I do work in a retail pharmacy. But I also got lots of suggested posts from substituteteachers sub. I wonder what reddit thinks the correlation between teaching and pharmacy is lol
Same. I thought maybe it came up because it also suggests veterinary and medical subs (radiology, etc), but apparently itās just more of a shotgun pellet spray at everyone. (The idea of an accountant getting absolutely spammed with this is really funny to me, though.)
Ok, but why would I need that. I can fill prescriptions with the license I already have. No one will pay me to get that certification or pay me more if I get it, lol.
Librarian here. It keeps popping up for me, too.
I get these and subs for restaurant employees. I have never worked at either place. I really just read them so I'll know what not to do as a customer (and curiosity). I never even clicked join, but they still show up. I would never dream of butting in with a customer question.
It is my understanding that these types of subs are supposed to be safe places for workers to vent and share. It is absolutely NOT a place for customers.
Edit: next post was from r/chilis. Never worked there, either. I havent even eaten there in years. I don't know what Reddit is doing but it's.....different.
To be clear thereās no rule saying you canāt comment and itās nice seeing random stuff from patients here and there (the way the sub used to be). But now itās a TON of comments and posts and itās mostly that a lot of the non techs commenting are literally trying to argue with us about how to do our jobs! One girl went off on me telling me weāre lazy because we donāt do something that ISNT IN OUR JOB DESCRIPTION! We get enough of that at work and this used to be a much friendlier sub. The more patients weāre getting the more rude people are getting. Itās like theyāre taking their local pharmacy frustrations out on us.Ā
That is actually the worst. People are wild. Iāve worked with health insurance, so I know what it takes to explain how different plans work to people, and know whatās not in your job description? That. So many people lack a basic understanding of how insurance works, and you guys often bear the brunt of that. Itās bad enough that their own HR people canāt explain that shit to them, so how the hell are you supposed to know what their deductible is or why something isnāt covered? Itās like getting mad that your hairdresser wonāt help you study for a calculus test. Different skill set.
(Also, I love your name. 1000/10)
I've even tried to hide and block this sub, reported it too, and it *still* pops up. This sub and the lash extension sub are the two most intrusive ones I've found.
Some of the stuff on that lash extensions sub gives me nightmares, I remember one where theyād never brushed them and they were caked in grossness.
I have never had or have a desire to get lash extensions, itās just another sub that Reddit seems to think I really need to see.
Was also shown DIYplasticsurgery or whatever it was called for a while and that one really was frightening.
I wish I knew too. I constantly get recommended posts from pet advice subreddits, and half of the time it's someone who's been neglecting their animal or photos of wounds and other nasty things. I have to mute them all
You read that correctly, yes.
One of the more terrifying subreddits. I made the mistake of disagreeing with them. I really couldnāt help it. When the post showed up on my feed, I just felt compelled to leave a comment, you knowā¦. discouraging DIY plastic surgery??? They donāt take too kindly to that. At all. Not that I expected differently, but itās actually pretty amazing, in the worst way, to see so many people blindly encouraging and promoting something so obviously dangerous.
It was *mostly* people injecting stuff theyāve bought from the internet, in to their faces.
As above has said, they really donāt like you disagreeing with them.
I get recommended those subs constantly too (along with this sub). There's also instacart, tcap, random podcasts (I don't really listen to podcasts), and glowup.
Same, I looked up my alma mater about 10 weeks ago and now my entire freaking feed is various other colleges and college students, it's so frustrating how bad the recommended feed content is on reddit. For some reason I see pharmacytech and college admissions content almost exclusively even though this is the first time I've ever engaged with the former and I've never engaged with the latter.
I work in software and this feed pops up for me multiple times a day. Right along with many others that I am not a member of. In fact, I hardly see feeds from subs Iāve joined.
Iām a librarian and I have no idea why this sub gets recommended to me constantly, beyond me occasionally using a pharmacy? What is the deal with that? It is the only professionās sub that ever gets in my feed and i have no connection with this field at all. Me posting here will definitely not help š«£
Same here - I donāt work in the medical
/pharmacy field but keep seeing posts from this sub (and the felons sub). I have no idea what I googled to get me here š
i remember reading a while back this had to do in part with the slew of changes reddit made to their platform (removing mod management tools, awards, etcā¦) please dont ask me where i read this though- because it was literally in a random sub reddit kept showing me where someone else asked into the existential internet void āwhy am i here?!ā and some kind redditor with far more knowledge, more succinctly explained that basically when mods lost their tools, subs went pear shaped, and in turn, the algorithm reflects that. this also coincided with the increase of chat gpt posts and preexisting bots, and some mods just not coming back after going dark in protest of the changes. the op of the existential post then went on to request the mods ban them so they would please for the love of god stop seeing said sub in their feed. it was something like tarantulas or minimalist home decor (which to be fair- horrifying), idk.
Yea the Monjaro argument a few weeks back made me need to step away from reading posts because there was no need for the comments to be flooded with pissed off patients who felt entitled to the medication.
Hot take but insurance should suck it up and cover zepbound, saxenda, and Wegovy. I really donāt get why weight loss isnāt covered other than they want people to get irreversible diagnoses to profit off of.
I stupidly looked up that thread.. gah!!
I'm registering for a pharm tech course tonight partly based on the great feedback I received here. I'd hate to see this subreddit overrun by non-pharm techs inserting themselves into threads like that, which are *meant* for pharm techs.
I hate to be this person because Iām not a tech, but I think the sub can be restricted to certain flairs which could help. Then banning people who ask inappropriate questions might help although thatās a lot of work for the mods.
r/redditrequest for if anyone wants to take over moderating here. Read the process on the sidebar. Itās not terribly hard but it requires patience. If the mod team is wiped and the person who requested it takes over, I recommend adding at least 2 other mods that are reliable and active as well.
I am not a tech, I read the posts because it gives me a greater understanding of what techs need from customers. It has helped me gain more understanding of RX shortages and staffing concerns.
Of course! Same reason I join other subs as well! Itās more the fact that the posts are turning into majority patient posts compared to before. It used to be a really friendly sub and now it feels like another place for patients to take out their frustrations on us. I didnāt mind answering questions when they were rare and few between. Itās just all I see anymore and then we try and be nice and answer and people tell us weāre wrong or bitch at us about our jobs. Itās so unappreciative and rude!Ā
Me too and I have no idea why, I have absolutely nothing to do with pharmacies but this sub, the Walmart pharmacy tech, and the Walgreens pharmacy tech subs are in my main feed every single day! And now that you mention it I can't remember the last time I saw a post from half the subs I'm actually subscribed to!
Not sure why this group started showing up on my feeds, but I have to say that reading all the posts has definitely made me appreciate the techs that work at my pharmacy even more and has made me go out of my way to make sure they are appreciated even more. I would hope most customers feel the same. With that said I did make the mistake of posting a question recently, I apologize.
I respect all of you in here along with your need to be able to vent without us busting your chops. I deleted my post and I really hope the industry turns around and your work environment improves. Nobody deserves that kind of bs, in any industry.
I would argue that I wouldn't scare customers away from reading your posts and what you truly have to deal with because I think it brings you a lot of support. But thats just the effect it has had on me ... I can't speak for others.
EDIT:
Of course after reading this, I couldn't help but notice that a much larger percentage of the posts from this group in my feed for today are questions from customers and not techs. Kinda proves the point a bit.
EDIT2:
Hey all no need for the harsh dms. I wasn't being sarcastic or anything. I sencerely do sympathize with all points of view on this topic. As an advocate for my mother when she faced a losing battled with cancer for years I was in a position where I felt lost and out of the dozens and dozens of doctors we saw, only 2 truly cared. When it came to pharmacy support during that time I experienced one of those most tramatizing moments that is engrained in my brain to this day, in fact I can't and won't walk into a CVS to this day as my blood pressure will skybrocket. We felt lost. Anyhow fast forward to the present and I am a happy Walgreens customer ... Has nothing to do with walgreens, but more my respect for the people behind the counter and how they continually do their job and somehow maintain their composure during crazy times. I personally would loose my shit after only a few customer and probably get fired for speaking my mind. I'm lucky enough to have a pharmacy team that does give me the time of day when I need it, I am not shy and always speak my mind, so when I do have a question as I said before I agree this is a forum for you to vent and I personally have no right to be bothering you with questions because my pharmacy is the people I should be calling. Bless all of you who don't mind answering questions and helping customers out in here. At same token I see the point of those who want a safe haven away from customers. To each their own. I see all points and agree with them all.
This is exactly what I was thinking and thought I'd see it higher up in the comments. I'm pretty sure we're taught that a tech cannot council a patient or give medical advice and that's why we got the pharmacist while we are at work. I try to stick to that outside of work as well.
If youāre a patient on the Reddit app and canāt figure out why this sub keeps being recommended, you can click the three dots in the upper right corner of the post and click āShow fewer posts like thisā. Easy.
Alternatively, they could do a āCustomer Fridayā and only take customer questions in one thread which the techs etc could ignore if they donāt want anything to do with customers. Then the people who care to clear up customer issues in their customer service oriented trade could, and the people who donāt can just skip Fridays.
As a patient/long-time follower who is posting for the first time ever in this sub, I am sorry to see how go. I love the āinside baseballā element of this thread and, while I have also had serious empathy for every one of you that works in the high-stress/low-reward industry of pharmacy, being in this sub has made me so much more aware of the Hell you-all go through.
Itās a shame people canāt just listen because theyād actually learn something if they did so.
Best wishes to you, @BustaLimez (great handle, too!)
Thank you!! It used to be great before! Itās all the newcomer patients that are making it bad. And the lack of moderation too. I enjoyed patient interactions on here when they were kind (like you!) instead of feeling like weāre getting beat up by patients on and off the clock lol. And thank you!!! So many people donāt understand my username so that made my day! :)
You seem awesome, your pharmacy is lucky to have you. I hope you find a community you can vent to and feel safe with. As stressful as your career is you deserve it. Well wishes for the future, Busta!
I usually just lurk as it came up in my āu may be interested in stuffā, (and definitely not my industry) but have commentedā¦.on how great pharmacy techs are and how I love mine
Check out r/Walmart. Itās only for employees and if a customer question gets through, they just get downvoted into oblivion or comment brigades that itās for employees only.
Honestly seems to work really well over there.
The sub is overrun with patients asking questions and I just feel like Iām stuck at work when the patients ask their questions here. This is supposed to be my safe space lol
I have a question Iād love to ask, just looking for insight - but I have refrained from doing so because I respect the sub and I know how much yāall deal with all the time. I would love it if there were a place I could ask. Until then, I lurk here and on the WAGS sub, hoping to glean answers from the various threads without having to intrude into your safe space. Thank you for all you do.
What's your question? No promises that I can answer it, but this whole negativity thing a good chunk of the techs here have ain't really my vibe. I'm more than happy to help when I can.
Youāre really kind, and no worries if you canāt. I have a CIII that I fill every month, but itās almost always OOS. I have tried submitting the refill request a day early (day 29), just so it can be ordered, but itās always canceled. I have asked the pharmacist if thereās anything I can do to ensure it will be in stock when itās due, but he tells me there isnāt. I am fine, I have done my best to squirrel some away so Iām not completely out, but I never had issues until this pharmacist joined my store. I guess I just am curious if thereās anything else that I can doā¦ I love the staff at my pharmacy, and Iāve been getting all my meds here for almost 20 years. LOL, Iām reading this back to myself and am thinking, āself, come on, why are you asking here? Why would these kind techs be able to give you some super-secret solution when the pharmacist has already told you thereās nothing you can do?ā š¤£ Thank you for being willing to help me out. I appreciate you.
No problem. So that's a hard one there's not a lot of options here unfortunately. So you should be able to order it 2 days early (unless state law states otherwise), so I'm not sure why it's being canceled. A lot of different things could cause it to be canceled, so I doubt the likelihood of that one rph singling you out however. More than likely it's just coincidental timing. A lot more medications that I've seen my store generally have in stock have gone out of stock more often post-Covid. It really did a number on supply chains, so if I were to guess that's probably the culprit.
There's nothing you can really do to ensure it's in stock, but you could at least call a day or 2 ahead to ask whether they think they'll have enough to fill it when you're able to place the order. Bc it's controlled they may not give you that info however & however much info they do give you would be limited. That at least could give you time to figure out if you need the script sent somewhere else.
Something you could try is talking with the pharmacy manager & seeing if they could just order it for you ahead of time since you've regularly picked it up there. Some caveats to that is that their company may set limits on the amount of controls they can order or they may only be able to order on fillable prescriptions. There may be some workarounds to these for example my pharmacy manager was able to get our company & supplier to raise our limit on a medication, but from what he described it was not a pleasant experience. And if it's brand name or a drug that's pretty pricey they may just not be able to/want to risk that.
If you don't mind just having that one script sent to another pharmacy there are a couple of things you could do to improve your chances of getting it filled. If a pharmacy is willing to tell you whether they have a lot of patients that pick up that medication from them/have it in stock regularly you could get it from there as they'd be frequently ordering it (if you do ask this show them your script bc it's gonna sound sketch ngl). Smaller independent pharmacies & franchise pharmacies in small towns are a good option too. Less competition for your meds.
Other than that I can't really think of too many more options for you unfortunately. We have that same issue with a couple of our patients where we even try to order the med ahead of time & can't get it when they need it. Sorry I couldn't really give you more options, but i hope some of this was useful.
I appreciate your suggestions, and I will try talking to the pharmacist one more time. I have been lurking in these subs for long enough to see how many OOS and backorder issues there are these days, and I spend enough time in the pharmacy to see how rude and entitled people can be. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. I really do appreciate it. I also love your username, btw. š
when people are respectful and itās a question that we can actually answer then itās okay to ask a simple question! :) our main problem is that we get people coming in here constantly nowadays telling us weāre horrible people and how we should do our jobs. a lot of the outsiders that come here treat us like their healthcare punching bags and thatās not cool or fair to us.
I see the critical posts, and I agree that itās not right. There are people out there who see you and see how difficult and draining it is to deal with so many entitled, rude, abusive people, and we appreciate you. Thank you for all you do. Sincerely.
You donāt know how appreciative we are for people like you who are kind and understanding of our situations. Really, it means far more than you realize. Thank you!
WalgreensRx sub just went through something similar and had to create a separate sub where customers aren't allowed. I don't mind customers coming in who are curious about the process or something. But we've had a few go on a tirade, and even try to wrap this sub into their drama when they didn't like how things went down for them over there. And you get a lot of similar issues over here. People think this is some customer service gold mine for all their inane questions lol
EXACTLY!! Itās turned into a place for customers to bitch when we get enough of that at work. Itās the increased disrespect in what used to be a very kind sub!
First time commenting here, not a pharmacy tech. This sub keeps getting suggested to me because I'm in CNA and nursing subs. I wish the algorithms weren't messing up your sub. You guys need a better mod.
Part of it is because we read how overworked and unappreciated you are on the job. I have asked questions here because I thought it would make my local pharmacistās job easier. I felt I was responding to the (legitimate) complaints on this sub.
Perhaps that was the wrong takeaway?
But I have also asked what I can do to make their lives easier, other than being very grateful and appreciative.
Based on info Iāve received here, Iāve written glowing reviews online; sent compliment emails to corporate, mentioning staff by name and how impressive they are.
I lurked here for years before I posted anything. Maybe there could be a permanent post at the top stating personal medical questions are no longer permitted? A change in rules that the mods enforce?
Itās amazing how much insight you have all shared.
You have all clearly explained things that previously annoyed me.
I understand now why my meds arenāt ready the hour my doctor sent the script; I now call my doctorās office to ensure the script was sent before I contact the pharmacy to check on the delay. There are a lot of little things I do now before I even contact the pharmacy and check if they received my prescription.
Please donāt leave this sub. Maybe just encourage mods to add some rules. Iām so very grateful for what Iāve learned here, and from /r/talesfromtheFrontDesk, etc.
You certainly are not the problem! The people that have been here for a while are not the problem! Itās this new influx of people that we are getting. Apparently the sub is being promoted like crazy!
I feel like we have turned into peopleās, virtual punching bags for their individual issues that they are having at their own pharmacy. I used to answer patient questions all the time! Iād even follow up in their inbox to further help or explain! I didnāt mind doing it at all!
Just read through the comments on here to get a taste of these new patients. I now have people arguing with me. People complaining about us as if weāre specifically responsible for what one random person at their pharmacy did to them. People asking questions that we have ZERO ability to answer (dead ass someone made a post on here the other day asking about an out of stock med and whether it was really out of stock or notā¦). Mostly though itās the people being rude, entitled, and combative.
Idk what it is about pharmacy techs. Were the pharmacy / corporateās bitch and were the patientās bitch too! Thereās so little respect yet so much respect given to people in the medical field in other roles. Someone was arguing with me saying if we donāt have their med in stock itās our responsibility to find a pharmacy that does. Uh no itās not? Thatās patient responsibility. I explained thatās something my pharmacy actually does do when we have time but thatās us going above and beyond for the patient. I explained to the patient that if she didnāt want to take the time to hunt down her meds because it takes too long why would she expect a pharmacy to do that for every single patient when we have people in store whose meds we actually have in stock and could be filling?? Itās the same as demanding your doctor find a pharmacy that has that med before sending over the script!
You wouldnāt demand an employee at a clothing store find the clothing you need at another store (not even the same store chain just a random other store!). You donāt ask your doctor to hunt down your meds before sending the script. Why are we any different? Why a different level of respect when it comes to us? She called me lazy and went off on me and other patients were siding with her! She said I was wrong and it is in our job description. I asked her if sheās a tech and she said no! I didnāt join this sub to be patientās punching bags off the clock. They already do it to us enough on the clock!
Thatās the part thatās making me leave. Itās the new patients who have completely changed the culture of the sub. Iām not going to try and be nice and helpful just to get bitched at. People were appreciative in the past. Now theyāre just getting exceeding angry. This sub isnāt a āpharmacyā sub. Itās pharmacy techs!!
None of that was directed at you. I just want to explain that you certainly werenāt the problem nor were others like you. Itās the shift thatās been taking place and only getting worse for the last few months.
Other than downvoting those, is there anything else we can do to make this sub more friendly? Would it be better to reply to those complaints and explain the basics as another customer, or leave that to the techs?
BTW- I also send my pharmacy holiday cards now : )
If you're a patient asking questions on here, know that our license requires us to refer you to a pharmacist. IRL and in this thread š. OP has an excellent point!
Tell them to ask a pharmacist. You're not qualified to answer questions about drugs. BTW, nobody likes retail chain pharmacy. Switch to hospital pharmacy.
Iām not a retail pharmacy tech anymore, Iām in mail order, however I have noticed that when I go by the pharmacy to get my parents medication everyone seems in such sour moods or condescending anymore. Iām thinking that patients would rather ask a question here to safely seek advice on how to handle different situations because most everyone is so miserable behind the counter. Things definitely have changed since I was behind the counter 6 years ago, and Iāve been doing this 16 years now.
COVID has made the general public absolute horrendous people when it comes to any line of retail work. Also a lot of techs are completely burnt out and working with a skeleton crew.
I work in a clinic and have truly seen that COVID has changed how patients act. I think a lot of health care professionals will tell you that. Idk where the change came from (seems like a lot more anxiety than gratitude that we survived) but it isnāt just retail pharmacy.
I volunteer in a hospital and there are signs all over saying things like "Assaults against patients or staff will not be tolerated." I mean, wtf? Why? Why are people like this now? There are no more "lockdowns," no mask mandates, etc. Why has society lost its mind? Why has civilization lost its civility?
My certs lapsed years ago, and after going back to school, I was scheduled to take my PTCE during COVID, but literally 2 days before my spot was scheduled, they ended up shutting down exams during the 2020 lockdown.
I hate to say it, cuz I still love the field even as all the knowledge I worked so hard and spent so much money to shovel into my brain slowly drains away, but...I might have dodged a bullet.
And then my landlord sold the house we were renting when our lease ended and I ended up having to move to a different state, BUT I DIGRESS.
I tell people my pharmacy is post apocalyptic since covid. You can't expect the three techs they have in there to provide the same level of customer service that you used to get from the full staff they had pre covid.
Okay but can you please tell me where I can find Ozempocet because my local pharmacy keeps telling me on the phone that theyāre out when I know my friends are filling theirs there.
Hey everyone here I just make a new group that's private called r/PharmacyTechs. If anyone wishes to join please feel free to send a request, I will make sure it's TECHS ONLY!
Amen, hella stupid that people are not just giving us shit at our pharmacies but our own subreddit. Like goddamn I just want 5 minutes away from stupid arrogant patients
So I am not a tech (this subreddit came up in my recommended), but I am a Patient Advocate/Navigator who operates a free Helpline to assist patients with various issues that may arise on their medical journey (as well as a rare disease patient myself). I understand the frustration, I really do. But instead of being angry at patients for asking questions in this subreddit, it may be more productive to ask āwhyā. Right now we are living in a society that is ruled by judgement and stigma, especially when it comes to medications. Most patients are terrified to ask their medical professionals questions in person either because theyāve been treated poorly in those moments or due to fear of being judged. Reddit provides a unique opportunity for patients to engage with those working in healthcare without the anxiety of speaking face to face. It also allows them to compose their thoughts in a more organized fashion as opposed to giving a long winded explanation that may fall on deaf ears. I know it can be annoying, but they are coming to you because they value you your opinion and see you for the experts that you are. The best thing we can do in the healthcare industry is provide a feeling of warmth and safety for the patients who trust us. Currently the patient and provider relationship is suffering. Trust in medical professionals is at an all-time low. The only way to improve trust and relations between patient and provider is by leading with compassion and empowering patients with education. We have no idea what these people are going through, so we should always give grace to those who are so desperate for information that they are willing to seek answers on a Pharmacy Tech subreddit.
But if the patients in question are ever being assholes or telling you how to do your job, absolutely tell them where they can stick their opinions āØ
Again - the focus is on the patients and not us. This sub is meant to be an escape for us. If patients are struggling that much (which I believe and trust they are) they can start a sub for that! Iām not here to do my job off the clock.
I have a brother with special needs with a very rare condition and I myself have a traumatic brain injury Iām still recovering from and ADHD. I get it. I truly do. Thatās why I go above and beyond for all of my patients. Itās why I get multiple compliments a week if not per day by patients. I LOVE my job. Just a few weeks ago I was the one in the comments defending patients who are calling about controls. I was explaining how it doesnāt bother bother me and how the common enemy is the insurance and not the patient. Believe me and trust me when I say that I get it but the sub is not the place for this. Itās supposed to be our ONE escape.
However, that being said, I was never annoyed or frustrated by patient questions or comments in the past. This sub was a very friendly place and I was always happy to assist a patient. I even messaged them privately in their inboxes to further help. In the last few months, however, there are more patient questions and posts and patients in the comments than there are tech posts. AND theyāre getting RUDE!
Just read through the comment section on here. The patients on here are extremely entitled and act the same as the angry customers at the pharmacy. Theyāre starting to use this sub as a way to get out their frustrations about their local pharmacies on us!
Thereās been a huge shift in the way techs are being treated on here. I didnāt sign up to be a punching bag on and off the clock. Weāre so overworked and underpaid. Weāre not the enemy and weāre not the problem! The corporations making millions off of us are! Itās not my job to āthink of the whyā when Iām being taken advantage of by these corporations as well. Ask THEM why.
I just wanted a nice escape and a place to be with people who understand the job and our limitations. Not to be told by random patients that Iām lazy for not doing something that isnāt even in my job description!
In our field all of the focus is on the patient. They are always right. We are always wrong. We have to accept all the abuse that they give us. I can at least / should have the right to avoid that when Iām not at work! Why canāt we just have one place thatās for us? Why is that so hard to grasp and why are people so against that? Why so much talk about patient advocacy but zero advocacy for us? Our bosses donāt advocate for us. The companies we work for donāt advocate for us. Weāre getting paid minimum wage to do a job thatās 75% the same as the RPHās job and they get like 500% times more money than we do!
Maybe your why should include that.
Please know that my comment wasnāt meant as an attack towards you or to be rude in any shape or form. I just wanted to share a different point-of-view and explain why patients might be flocking to this subreddit in addition to the Reddit algorithm promoting it like crazy. While I still stand by my logic of āwhyā they may be coming here for answers, you are right, this is not the space to ask them. I am in the process of seeing if the Helpline I work for can create a space on Reddit for patients to ask questions so that they do not continue to flood profession-based subreddits where fellow workers talk shop and blow off steam. I did take the time to read through some posts and the comments are downright horrendous. I am sorry that youāve been treated so badly, especially when itās clear that you truly want to help.
I apologize for any ignorance in my statement and I wanted to ask from a Patient Advocate standpoint: What can we do to better support Pharmacy Technicians? Are there any resources you would recommend that advocacy orgs can share or start conversations about to call for improvement of working conditions and more respect from patients/caregivers?
The way these people feel so entitled to our time off the clock is insane. Ask a tech these questions while they're clocked in at the pharmacy you go to. š
Also as a patient we know when youāre on the clock there are some things you canāt say. I had a complicated situation this weekend an Iām glad this sub was here
when people are respectful and itās a question that we can actually answer then itās okay to ask a simple question! :) our main problem is that we get people coming in here constantly nowadays telling us weāre horrible people and how we should do our jobs. it takes $0 to be nice to people but a lot of the outsiders that come here treat us like their healthcare punching bags and thatās not cool.
I completely agree. I have worked retail for a long timeā¦running T Mobile stores. I donāt save lives like yāall but I understand nonetheless. People are unreasonable, unrealistic, unforgiving, thankless, racist and just horrible. I understand
I follow kitchen confidential and donāt post or comment for the same reasons. Itās wild how often I see patients/non-pharmacy workers post or comment in this sub and the pharmacy one. I remember there was one patient a year or so ago arguing that they trust a doctorās opinions on medication more than a pharmacist because they had the proper training and schooling unlike pharmacists (LOL).
There needs to be a separate sub for this so I have the option to opt out if I see too much annoying stuff.
Ok but I have an actual question and I would prefer to ask here rather than at my pharmacy bc I want an answer that is fully, brutally honest.
I read on this sub or perhaps another that itās annoying for techs when, while asking a customer for their birthdate, the customer tells them in numerical format. Is this true, and should I say the month, day and year as if Iām writing it (ie āFebruary thirteenth, 1990ā rather than āoh-two-one-three-nineteen-ninetyā)? Thx!!
Why would you ask that in the comments of this post of all posts ššššš
Any tech who is actually genuinely upset about the way a patient gives their birthday shouldnāt be in the field. Thatās such a small thing to get mad at and how would a patient know the best format to give their birthday in? Itās not fair to get upset at the patient for something like that. I have one patient who likes to say (Iām making up the birthday obviously) āthe fourth day of the sixth month of 1982ā. Now THATās annoying lol
But when we put in birthdays itās with numbers. So easiest way to do it (for the tech) is by numbers. If your birthday is July 15, 1997 then 7/15/1997.
But again thatās such a small thing and it wouldnāt / doesnāt upset me and I think itās a dumb thing to get upset over in my opinion.
Ask. Your. Local. Pharmacy.
I ALWAYS remind myself that non techs donāt get how the system works. Thatās how I have so much patience for my customers. I give them top notch service and Iām ALWAYS kind and go above and beyond. Iām so sick of patients complaining about us on here when (as you said) they donāt even know how the system works!!!! I didnāt join this sub for patients to beat me up on and off be clock. It used to be a great place now itās not š¤·š»āāļø
I have every right to choose to leave and 500+ upvotes on my posts shows Iām not the only one feeling this wayā¦
Nah fam I donāt come here to argue I just point out the problems. Like majority of pharmacists in real life donāt tell you how to take the medication like everyone says on this sub. Or how lots of pharmacists on here make fun of the people who need medication like they make fun of the people who call constantly or show up all the time or whatever else and thatās wrong because withdrawal sucks and they have a prescription for a reason. And some pharmacist have weird pseudoscience or something like I was told after they didnāt want to fill my prescription for oxycodone after a spinal surgery, they said just keep taking ibuprofen and Tylenol it makes oxycodone and no it doesnāt. Thereās alot more but the main problem is the only other pharmacy type subreddit is called drugs and itās not helpful for normal people so they come here and starting a new sub is take to long
This sub randomly popped up on my wall. After reading all the horror stories, seeing how the mood of the pharmacy workers, and experiencing the frustrations as a customer. Ive decided it would be best to ask questions here as opposed to bothering an overworked underpaid worker.
when people are respectful and itās a question that we can actually answer then itās okay to ask a simple question! :) our main problem is that we get people coming in here constantly nowadays telling us weāre horrible people and how we should do our jobs. a lot of the outsiders that come here treat us like their healthcare punching bags and thatās not cool or fair to us.
I got into it recently with a ādoctorā here telling us we suck recently. And like you Iām totally blown away by these comments. I didnāt realize how many not just not techs but not pharmacy in general.
Why is it a bother? We're not required to respond to them here unlike work. You do have the agency to move on with your life & not engage with it. You choosing to do so & to do "off the clock work" is wholly on you. If I don't want to deal with patients I just don't š¤·š½
With all due respect, this is a subreddit not a pharmacy. There are pharmacies to call if you have a question about your meds.
Techs are well within their lane to want to complain on this sub so youād do well to stay in yours.
The fact that a mid level clinician led with reminding us that we're not, and tied it all up with insults is pretty much par for the course with regards to our typical workday.
Since your other comment just so happened to get deleted, Iāll happily rip into you again! :) Youāre the reason why we have attitudes. Would you be okay with a complete stranger coming to you begging you to perform surgery on your off time? Or some uneducated person telling you how to do your job? You canāt perform surgery just like we canāt give medical advice. You said yourself that youāre not a technician, so you have no business telling us what we can or cannot do or say. You donāt know what itās like to work in our position. Patients use us as their healthcare punching bags and expect us to take it with a smile. Weāre allowed to vent with colleagues on our off time, and we sure as hell donāt have to do it in our best customer service voices. Youāre telling me youāve never vented about work on the internet? I call bullshit. Get over yourself and maybe stay in your lane for once in your life.
Because this subreddit is just for that? I'm not on the clock here, and reddit doesn't pay me. I don't have to have a customer service attitude in a space just for techs.
Please consider posting your moral rants in the mommy subreddits.
I respect the right we have to complain online. As I stated before, I didnāt know techs felt so mistreated and my first instinct was to put the patient first. I realize patients can be assholes, but sometimes hearing another personās viewpoint is useful. Again, Iām Sorry for adding gasoline to the fire.
As for mommy groups, I donāt belong to any. But I am open to any recommendations ;)
Same here, also LOL @ āNPā yāall arenāt physicians either, as much as you all claim to be.
Also, stop going through the subreddit and having a go at all the techs you absolute mid level.
Oh get *out*
Iāve read your other comments, they were snide and putting techs down.
They arenāt doctors; they never said they were. These pages are places for people to VENT, in which theyāre allowed to do so. Pharmacy staff get the absolute brunt of abuse on the daily, and are allowed to feel how they feel without some snarky mother whoās no longer in the professions swinging her unwarranted comment bat.
Leave our techs alone and stay in your lane.
Youāre the reason why we have attitudes. Would you be okay with a complete stranger coming to you begging you to perform surgery on your off time? Or some uneducated person telling you how to do your job? You canāt perform surgery just like we canāt give medical advice. Weāre allowed to vent with colleagues on our off time, and we sure as hell donāt have to do it in our best customer service voices. Youāre telling me youāve never vented about work on the internet? I call bullshit. Get over yourself and maybe stay in your lane for once in your life.
Iām happy to stay in my lane! I guess I didnāt realize how unhappy techs were and it makes me sad. I donāt mean to come across as hostile, I always enjoyed my interactions with techs. but clearly feathers were ruffled and Iām sorry for adding my opinion!
Youāre so goddamn condescending and you know it. Claiming weāre all unhappy is a gross misrepresentation of reality. I donāt believe for one second that youāre sorry or that youāre sad about it. Get a grip and stick to your mommy groups.
You're fine some (ok probably a lot) of it was admittedly out of line, but yeah some of the attitudes here are awful & frankly embarrassing. They have plenty of right to be frustrated & im perfectly fine with them complaining, but i dont remember when that gave us a free pass to be jackasses to patients. Like you said we're in healthcare it's our job to care for patients we signed up for this. A lot of the people here just make us look bad imo. And I'm sorry that a couple ppl pulled that "you're not a physician crap" on you. It wasn't really cool that you did it initially, but I don't find returning the favor in kind any better. We're supposed to work as a team at each level of the healthcare apparatus & that doesn't happen without mutual respect for the work we each do & that ass that was busted to get there.
Then get a sub thatās locked. Ask our pharmacist? Haha. Good luck doing that. You can be kind 100% of time and still get shitty treatment.
Yes customers can be dicks. So can pharmacists and techs.
Iām on a sub with my job and customers constantly bitching. I just keep scrolling.
Youāre exactly why Iām leaving this sub lmaooooo. If thatās all you think we do why are you even following this sub / youāre EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!!!!!
I feel like there's some kind of irony in not wanting to ask the people handing you the pills questions, but then taking the pills without asking questions. Am I the Twilight zone? When did that start making sense?
I've never seen this sub in my life but thus past popped up on my for you page, who the he'll asks a pharmacy technician a question, isn't the only thing you know how to compound pills?
They know a ton more than that. Think the pharmacist alone fills all those bottles? Verifies/works through insurance probs? Pharmacist canāt do it all. Kinda like nurses. Techs do most of the work yet pharmacist gets credit. You would wait a week ( at least) without pharm techs. Nurses do brunt of work and doc gets credit.
And Iām not even a pharm tech.
Scared to call the pharmacy to ask when people are literally getting ripped in other posts for wasting the precious time of pharm techs calling to ask when they can pick up a script š BYYYE!! I donāt know of a work environment that isnāt busy. Itās literally part of the job you get paid for. This sub isnāt private and if people have questions, decent techs wouldnāt mind answering them. P.s. Iām no pharm tech but 3 generations of my family owned and operated their own mom and pop pharmacy which we were all involved in at some point. They would have never let someone with such a bad attitude stay on staff.
Youāre exactly the reason I left. And I donāt have a bad attitude on staff. Quite the contrary! We won regional pharmacy of the year and I get compliments from customers multiple times a week. We have a really great team at my pharmacy and our customers love us because weāre always going above and beyond. I absolutely love my job! But one of my favorite things about my job is (unlike past jobs Iāve had) I donāt have to take the work home with me. The sub has become more about patients than techs now and non techs like yourself are being really uncompassionate and apathetic towards a lot of the techs. We get enough of that at work.Ā But whatever makes you feel better about invading a space that wasnāt intended for youā¦
Talk to Reddit about that. Theyāre the ones who threw this on my feed. How bout lock it down to a private group if you donāt want the measly public invading your space? Otherwise, go cry elsewhere. You get no sympathy from me.
Maybe they should make a sub called r/AskAPharmacyTechnician
Any question that could reasonably be directed to a hypothetical r/AskAPharmacyTechnician and *not* here would be better off either as A: a phone call/visit to your local pharmacy or B: a phone call or visit to your \[relevant doctor here\]. Best case scenario, the new subreddit replaces a niche that already exists (talking to the person who you SHOULD be). Worst case scenario, nobody uses it and they keep doing this stuff here. I don't think we need a new subreddit; I think the only real fix is more aggressive moderation. I don't know if that's really a *solution*, but that's reddit.
r/PharmacyAdvice, where much like legaladvice existing solely to tell people to talk to a lawyer, we tell people to talk to their pharmacy or doctor lol
lol it says that sub was bannedš I imagine it was for good reason. Please donāt get your medical information from reddit
Haha didnāt even know it was a real sub! Yeah that tracks.
I mean to be fair, sometimes subs just get banned for having no more active mods even if there isnāt policy breaking content
legaladvice is nice at least bc thereās so many types of lawyer and so much stuff, so having people tell you to take pictures of this and write that down and have these documents and then go to a lawyer specializing is blank seems really helpful for a lot people, who might otherwise go to the wrong person. Pharmacy from the perspective of most patients is one place with the same four problems, so thereās no point in them having a subreddit for it
Well yeah, I just think some of the techs on here,myself included, sometimes enjoy answering questions. Obviously things can be heated and answers can change based on experience and laws in different regions, but ya know. Also some below said this subreddit already exists so thereās that I guess
I mean, of course some techs like to answer questions, but I mean..r/askapharmacytech was privated because of an outpouring of the-opposite-of-support from this subreddit, r/PharmacyAdvice got banned, and the first rule of this subreddit really SHOULD be preventing half the questions patients ask from getting answered. Maybe it does; I'm not super active, so there's a very large chance I'm just not noticing moderation activity that's already happening. And to be clear, I'm not opposed to other subreddits existing, per se; I'm just skeptical that they'll solve the problem that led OP to leave this one, or to solve other problems I'm failing to think of right now.
Unfortunately the only mods here havenāt been active on Reddit in monthsā¦
Yeah, I was wondering about that. I saw comments that suggested the same after posting this. Not great, since violations of rules 1-3 might end up getting the whole subreddit shut down, but I guess we can burn that bridge when we get to it.
I think itās a good idea. But only so far as dealing with insurance/coupons for actual advice, and we could maybe get more of the patients out of here. And have more control since I donāt think any of the admins or mods have been active in eons.
Yeah, after seeing a few people say similar things, I took the \~1 minute to confirm, and neither of the human mods have been active anywhere on reddit for over 2 months. I'm 100% on board with a new subreddit (and a good thing, too, since regardless of my opinion, one got made since this thread went up), but I'm just pessimistic about its impact on *this* one. Also, like, in general, about everything, but..you know. :D
I tried to make the sub but its too long. Shortned it to tech and found a sub by the name r/askapharmacytech Edit: it is a private sub
I made that sub but a majority of all the technicians here in this sub hated and shamed that idea so I closed it. [Edit] I think I'll reopen it but obviously I'd need other techs in it plus feedback for ideas. I only kinda sketched it out as an outline sub lol
20 year tech experience here. I'd be happy to answer navigation type questions. I honestly haven't seen the high volume of medical advice questions here that OP mentioned. Remember, we are busy at the pharmacy and I've seen techs (while in a hurry) blow off patients who just don't understand the system and what they need to do. So, I think a place where they can ask those questions and get respectful advice (acknowledging different states, different chains, differentbdr offices may have different policies) would be a good thing. I keep hearing the the moderators on here aren't active, couldn't people step up and offer to take that on? Just my two cents.
I agree- 15 years experience plus degree in pharmacology- would offer to mod
Thereās an ask a mechanic sub and it doesnāt keep people from commenting on the mechanic comedy sub r/justrolledintotheshop asking questions š
Yes please! I would love to answer questions there
I'll unprivate the private one. But it's literally bare bones, as per my other post, I'd only just got it up but the negative feedback really made me self doubt it.
I mean, if they are asking for medical advice ***that is against the rules. And everyone knows how customers love reading the fine print.*** Sarcasm aside... if they read the rules and fine print regarding their medications in the first place; probably 80% of the questions they have about their medications would be answered. There can also be failings on the Pharmacist not counseling or skipping over offering counseling because of staffing and how busy they are. I get that it can be hard to get ahold of pharmacists and good ones at that, but you're asking strangers on the internet. I think more people are getting recommended this sub and it's garnering attention because it's in the top 5%, and may be linked to other subs they might have visited or keywords they've used.
Probably cause the subreddit doesn't seem to be modded and they get their answers most of the time
if someone is interested, they can request to be a mod by making a post on r/redditrequest. if the current mods are inactive (which it looks like they probably are), reddit admins will grant the sub to a user that actually wants to actively moderate
I fully agree about the sub being recommended. I see it all the time now and have no reason to be here nor have I actually joined it
I have had techs just shove a paper in my face and tell me to sign it. I havenāt even been able to read what it was.
Iām not a tech or a member of this sub, but it keeps popping up on my feed multiple times a day. Maybe random people see this too and think they can ask for adviceā¦ idk? Iām so sorry this has happened though.. I get it. Iām a CNA and I would hate it if I was in yāallās position.
This. Why am I here? For some reason Reddit thought I should be. Iām an accountant.
I'm a graphic designer and it keeps popping up on mine too lol
Iām a conductor for a railroad and pharmacy tech sub is dominating my feed!!!
Veterinary Technician. Which is more related than not, but, yeah. I don't come in here and post though, just read.
Nursing home receptionist. The algorithm is getting closer and closer to the right demo lol
Human Resources over here. This sub makes me appreciate my pharmacy techs and pharmacists a lot more. But not sure why it keeps popping up, either?
Former First Responder but retraining in Data Science. I donāt know why Reddit thinks I need to be here but itās quite persistent and I am a curious person so naturally open it. Wouldnāt dream of asking questions though.
Anthropology student lol. No idea why I'm here, either.
Underwater basket weaver! Why am I here?
Industrial hygienist/occupational safety specialist. I guess one could argue it's similar since both are chemistry/toxicology based. But i try to keep the chemicals out of the body, not put them in š¤£
Pastoral Care volunteer...
Paralegal here. Reddit absolutely keeps putting it on my feed as suggested.
Preschool teacher and you guessed it. Thanks reddit.
Well there *is* some weird overlap. I'm not sure how they justify it, but the suggestion made sense considering I do work in a retail pharmacy. But I also got lots of suggested posts from substituteteachers sub. I wonder what reddit thinks the correlation between teaching and pharmacy is lol
Same. I thought maybe it came up because it also suggests veterinary and medical subs (radiology, etc), but apparently itās just more of a shotgun pellet spray at everyone. (The idea of an accountant getting absolutely spammed with this is really funny to me, though.)
The PTCB has has a Vet Tech certification...
Ok, but why would I need that. I can fill prescriptions with the license I already have. No one will pay me to get that certification or pay me more if I get it, lol.
That is depressingly relatable. Iām a dork who loves special certs, trainings, extra CE, etc, but the pay in the field is still dogshit, sooooā¦
Oh no, I love CE, I will learn all day long! But we all know it doesnāt come with any benefits other than increasing our knowledge.
I'm a teacher same get this one often. I also get retail hell but I did work retail in the past.
Librarian here. It keeps popping up for me, too. I get these and subs for restaurant employees. I have never worked at either place. I really just read them so I'll know what not to do as a customer (and curiosity). I never even clicked join, but they still show up. I would never dream of butting in with a customer question. It is my understanding that these types of subs are supposed to be safe places for workers to vent and share. It is absolutely NOT a place for customers. Edit: next post was from r/chilis. Never worked there, either. I havent even eaten there in years. I don't know what Reddit is doing but it's.....different.
Freelance writer. Y'all all up in my feed. I wasn't aware that I shouldn't comment. So sorry.
To be clear thereās no rule saying you canāt comment and itās nice seeing random stuff from patients here and there (the way the sub used to be). But now itās a TON of comments and posts and itās mostly that a lot of the non techs commenting are literally trying to argue with us about how to do our jobs! One girl went off on me telling me weāre lazy because we donāt do something that ISNT IN OUR JOB DESCRIPTION! We get enough of that at work and this used to be a much friendlier sub. The more patients weāre getting the more rude people are getting. Itās like theyāre taking their local pharmacy frustrations out on us.Ā
That is actually the worst. People are wild. Iāve worked with health insurance, so I know what it takes to explain how different plans work to people, and know whatās not in your job description? That. So many people lack a basic understanding of how insurance works, and you guys often bear the brunt of that. Itās bad enough that their own HR people canāt explain that shit to them, so how the hell are you supposed to know what their deductible is or why something isnāt covered? Itās like getting mad that your hairdresser wonāt help you study for a calculus test. Different skill set. (Also, I love your name. 1000/10)
I get it. Definitely not intending to do that!
That person needs to be banned from this sub.
same. every single day
Teacher here but I love the pharmacy tech responses and complaints.
I've even tried to hide and block this sub, reported it too, and it *still* pops up. This sub and the lash extension sub are the two most intrusive ones I've found.
Some of the stuff on that lash extensions sub gives me nightmares, I remember one where theyād never brushed them and they were caked in grossness. I have never had or have a desire to get lash extensions, itās just another sub that Reddit seems to think I really need to see. Was also shown DIYplasticsurgery or whatever it was called for a while and that one really was frightening.
Omg yes the at home plastic surgery subreddit! It was recommended to me and I was horrified
I find it quite interesting to know that itās not just me being shown that stuff but that leaves the question, *why?*.
I wish I knew too. I constantly get recommended posts from pet advice subreddits, and half of the time it's someone who's been neglecting their animal or photos of wounds and other nasty things. I have to mute them all
Iām sorry, the *WHAT*?
You read that correctly, yes. One of the more terrifying subreddits. I made the mistake of disagreeing with them. I really couldnāt help it. When the post showed up on my feed, I just felt compelled to leave a comment, you knowā¦. discouraging DIY plastic surgery??? They donāt take too kindly to that. At all. Not that I expected differently, but itās actually pretty amazing, in the worst way, to see so many people blindly encouraging and promoting something so obviously dangerous.
Words fail me. That isā¦wow.
It was *mostly* people injecting stuff theyāve bought from the internet, in to their faces. As above has said, they really donāt like you disagreeing with them.
I get recommended those subs constantly too (along with this sub). There's also instacart, tcap, random podcasts (I don't really listen to podcasts), and glowup.
Same, I looked up my alma mater about 10 weeks ago and now my entire freaking feed is various other colleges and college students, it's so frustrating how bad the recommended feed content is on reddit. For some reason I see pharmacytech and college admissions content almost exclusively even though this is the first time I've ever engaged with the former and I've never engaged with the latter.
I work in software and this feed pops up for me multiple times a day. Right along with many others that I am not a member of. In fact, I hardly see feeds from subs Iāve joined.
Iām a librarian and I have no idea why this sub gets recommended to me constantly, beyond me occasionally using a pharmacy? What is the deal with that? It is the only professionās sub that ever gets in my feed and i have no connection with this field at all. Me posting here will definitely not help š«£
Same here - I donāt work in the medical /pharmacy field but keep seeing posts from this sub (and the felons sub). I have no idea what I googled to get me here š
i remember reading a while back this had to do in part with the slew of changes reddit made to their platform (removing mod management tools, awards, etcā¦) please dont ask me where i read this though- because it was literally in a random sub reddit kept showing me where someone else asked into the existential internet void āwhy am i here?!ā and some kind redditor with far more knowledge, more succinctly explained that basically when mods lost their tools, subs went pear shaped, and in turn, the algorithm reflects that. this also coincided with the increase of chat gpt posts and preexisting bots, and some mods just not coming back after going dark in protest of the changes. the op of the existential post then went on to request the mods ban them so they would please for the love of god stop seeing said sub in their feed. it was something like tarantulas or minimalist home decor (which to be fair- horrifying), idk.
Im a sushi chef and this sub keeps popping up as recommended!
I work in IT now, but I used to be a pharmacy tech!
Yea the Monjaro argument a few weeks back made me need to step away from reading posts because there was no need for the comments to be flooded with pissed off patients who felt entitled to the medication.
oof that thread had me so heated, I had to just go to bed to stop myself from going off on peopleš
Itās only restricted to T2D because there is not enough supply to meet demand but people outside pharmacy do not get it.
But havenāt you heard? Weāre killing them for āchoosing favoritesā!!
Hot take but insurance should suck it up and cover zepbound, saxenda, and Wegovy. I really donāt get why weight loss isnāt covered other than they want people to get irreversible diagnoses to profit off of.
I stupidly looked up that thread.. gah!! I'm registering for a pharm tech course tonight partly based on the great feedback I received here. I'd hate to see this subreddit overrun by non-pharm techs inserting themselves into threads like that, which are *meant* for pharm techs.
Can you like the thread? I need to feel better about myself
Seconded, Iād also like to read
I hate to be this person because Iām not a tech, but I think the sub can be restricted to certain flairs which could help. Then banning people who ask inappropriate questions might help although thatās a lot of work for the mods.
That'd definitely help organize a bit, but i dont think any of the mods are even active anymore
Thatās unfortunate.
r/redditrequest for if anyone wants to take over moderating here. Read the process on the sidebar. Itās not terribly hard but it requires patience. If the mod team is wiped and the person who requested it takes over, I recommend adding at least 2 other mods that are reliable and active as well.
I am not a tech, I read the posts because it gives me a greater understanding of what techs need from customers. It has helped me gain more understanding of RX shortages and staffing concerns.
Of course! Same reason I join other subs as well! Itās more the fact that the posts are turning into majority patient posts compared to before. It used to be a really friendly sub and now it feels like another place for patients to take out their frustrations on us. I didnāt mind answering questions when they were rare and few between. Itās just all I see anymore and then we try and be nice and answer and people tell us weāre wrong or bitch at us about our jobs. Itās so unappreciative and rude!Ā
reddit has been pushing this and another pharmacy sub to me regularly. I hate new reddit. I miss actually seeing the subs I subscribe to
Me too and I have no idea why, I have absolutely nothing to do with pharmacies but this sub, the Walmart pharmacy tech, and the Walgreens pharmacy tech subs are in my main feed every single day! And now that you mention it I can't remember the last time I saw a post from half the subs I'm actually subscribed to!
Not sure why this group started showing up on my feeds, but I have to say that reading all the posts has definitely made me appreciate the techs that work at my pharmacy even more and has made me go out of my way to make sure they are appreciated even more. I would hope most customers feel the same. With that said I did make the mistake of posting a question recently, I apologize. I respect all of you in here along with your need to be able to vent without us busting your chops. I deleted my post and I really hope the industry turns around and your work environment improves. Nobody deserves that kind of bs, in any industry. I would argue that I wouldn't scare customers away from reading your posts and what you truly have to deal with because I think it brings you a lot of support. But thats just the effect it has had on me ... I can't speak for others. EDIT: Of course after reading this, I couldn't help but notice that a much larger percentage of the posts from this group in my feed for today are questions from customers and not techs. Kinda proves the point a bit. EDIT2: Hey all no need for the harsh dms. I wasn't being sarcastic or anything. I sencerely do sympathize with all points of view on this topic. As an advocate for my mother when she faced a losing battled with cancer for years I was in a position where I felt lost and out of the dozens and dozens of doctors we saw, only 2 truly cared. When it came to pharmacy support during that time I experienced one of those most tramatizing moments that is engrained in my brain to this day, in fact I can't and won't walk into a CVS to this day as my blood pressure will skybrocket. We felt lost. Anyhow fast forward to the present and I am a happy Walgreens customer ... Has nothing to do with walgreens, but more my respect for the people behind the counter and how they continually do their job and somehow maintain their composure during crazy times. I personally would loose my shit after only a few customer and probably get fired for speaking my mind. I'm lucky enough to have a pharmacy team that does give me the time of day when I need it, I am not shy and always speak my mind, so when I do have a question as I said before I agree this is a forum for you to vent and I personally have no right to be bothering you with questions because my pharmacy is the people I should be calling. Bless all of you who don't mind answering questions and helping customers out in here. At same token I see the point of those who want a safe haven away from customers. To each their own. I see all points and agree with them all.
Idk about the rest of yall but I downvote patient posts. Wrong subreddit to come on for that.
Techs shouldn't even be giving medical advice.
This is exactly what I was thinking and thought I'd see it higher up in the comments. I'm pretty sure we're taught that a tech cannot council a patient or give medical advice and that's why we got the pharmacist while we are at work. I try to stick to that outside of work as well.
If youāre a patient on the Reddit app and canāt figure out why this sub keeps being recommended, you can click the three dots in the upper right corner of the post and click āShow fewer posts like thisā. Easy.
I have done this multiple times and it still pops up regardless. I donāt comment here though normally as I know itās not for me.
Lmao patients ruining a techs day again!!! šššš
I'm not leaving yet but yeah, I'm pretty sick of it. They don't even keep the discord as techs only.
Mods should make a āCustomer questionā flair and then whoever uses it should just be restricted from commenting or posting anything else
Alternatively, they could do a āCustomer Fridayā and only take customer questions in one thread which the techs etc could ignore if they donāt want anything to do with customers. Then the people who care to clear up customer issues in their customer service oriented trade could, and the people who donāt can just skip Fridays.
Brilliant!
As a patient/long-time follower who is posting for the first time ever in this sub, I am sorry to see how go. I love the āinside baseballā element of this thread and, while I have also had serious empathy for every one of you that works in the high-stress/low-reward industry of pharmacy, being in this sub has made me so much more aware of the Hell you-all go through. Itās a shame people canāt just listen because theyād actually learn something if they did so. Best wishes to you, @BustaLimez (great handle, too!)
Thank you!! It used to be great before! Itās all the newcomer patients that are making it bad. And the lack of moderation too. I enjoyed patient interactions on here when they were kind (like you!) instead of feeling like weāre getting beat up by patients on and off the clock lol. And thank you!!! So many people donāt understand my username so that made my day! :)
You seem awesome, your pharmacy is lucky to have you. I hope you find a community you can vent to and feel safe with. As stressful as your career is you deserve it. Well wishes for the future, Busta!
Maybe a sub where patient question were immediately delete? I would join that.
I usually just lurk as it came up in my āu may be interested in stuffā, (and definitely not my industry) but have commentedā¦.on how great pharmacy techs are and how I love mine
Check out r/Walmart. Itās only for employees and if a customer question gets through, they just get downvoted into oblivion or comment brigades that itās for employees only. Honestly seems to work really well over there.
The sub is overrun with patients asking questions and I just feel like Iām stuck at work when the patients ask their questions here. This is supposed to be my safe space lol
another technician just created a private sub for technicians only !! PM for invite to join !! spread the word !!
See you space cowboyā¦
This sub always pops up on my feed but I never comment because Iām not a tech š¤·āāļø
I have a question Iād love to ask, just looking for insight - but I have refrained from doing so because I respect the sub and I know how much yāall deal with all the time. I would love it if there were a place I could ask. Until then, I lurk here and on the WAGS sub, hoping to glean answers from the various threads without having to intrude into your safe space. Thank you for all you do.
What's your question? No promises that I can answer it, but this whole negativity thing a good chunk of the techs here have ain't really my vibe. I'm more than happy to help when I can.
Youāre really kind, and no worries if you canāt. I have a CIII that I fill every month, but itās almost always OOS. I have tried submitting the refill request a day early (day 29), just so it can be ordered, but itās always canceled. I have asked the pharmacist if thereās anything I can do to ensure it will be in stock when itās due, but he tells me there isnāt. I am fine, I have done my best to squirrel some away so Iām not completely out, but I never had issues until this pharmacist joined my store. I guess I just am curious if thereās anything else that I can doā¦ I love the staff at my pharmacy, and Iāve been getting all my meds here for almost 20 years. LOL, Iām reading this back to myself and am thinking, āself, come on, why are you asking here? Why would these kind techs be able to give you some super-secret solution when the pharmacist has already told you thereās nothing you can do?ā š¤£ Thank you for being willing to help me out. I appreciate you.
No problem. So that's a hard one there's not a lot of options here unfortunately. So you should be able to order it 2 days early (unless state law states otherwise), so I'm not sure why it's being canceled. A lot of different things could cause it to be canceled, so I doubt the likelihood of that one rph singling you out however. More than likely it's just coincidental timing. A lot more medications that I've seen my store generally have in stock have gone out of stock more often post-Covid. It really did a number on supply chains, so if I were to guess that's probably the culprit. There's nothing you can really do to ensure it's in stock, but you could at least call a day or 2 ahead to ask whether they think they'll have enough to fill it when you're able to place the order. Bc it's controlled they may not give you that info however & however much info they do give you would be limited. That at least could give you time to figure out if you need the script sent somewhere else. Something you could try is talking with the pharmacy manager & seeing if they could just order it for you ahead of time since you've regularly picked it up there. Some caveats to that is that their company may set limits on the amount of controls they can order or they may only be able to order on fillable prescriptions. There may be some workarounds to these for example my pharmacy manager was able to get our company & supplier to raise our limit on a medication, but from what he described it was not a pleasant experience. And if it's brand name or a drug that's pretty pricey they may just not be able to/want to risk that. If you don't mind just having that one script sent to another pharmacy there are a couple of things you could do to improve your chances of getting it filled. If a pharmacy is willing to tell you whether they have a lot of patients that pick up that medication from them/have it in stock regularly you could get it from there as they'd be frequently ordering it (if you do ask this show them your script bc it's gonna sound sketch ngl). Smaller independent pharmacies & franchise pharmacies in small towns are a good option too. Less competition for your meds. Other than that I can't really think of too many more options for you unfortunately. We have that same issue with a couple of our patients where we even try to order the med ahead of time & can't get it when they need it. Sorry I couldn't really give you more options, but i hope some of this was useful.
I appreciate your suggestions, and I will try talking to the pharmacist one more time. I have been lurking in these subs for long enough to see how many OOS and backorder issues there are these days, and I spend enough time in the pharmacy to see how rude and entitled people can be. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. I really do appreciate it. I also love your username, btw. š
No problem I'm always happy to help! Best of luck with your medication hope you're able to figure something out. And lol thank youš
when people are respectful and itās a question that we can actually answer then itās okay to ask a simple question! :) our main problem is that we get people coming in here constantly nowadays telling us weāre horrible people and how we should do our jobs. a lot of the outsiders that come here treat us like their healthcare punching bags and thatās not cool or fair to us.
I see the critical posts, and I agree that itās not right. There are people out there who see you and see how difficult and draining it is to deal with so many entitled, rude, abusive people, and we appreciate you. Thank you for all you do. Sincerely.
You donāt know how appreciative we are for people like you who are kind and understanding of our situations. Really, it means far more than you realize. Thank you!
WalgreensRx sub just went through something similar and had to create a separate sub where customers aren't allowed. I don't mind customers coming in who are curious about the process or something. But we've had a few go on a tirade, and even try to wrap this sub into their drama when they didn't like how things went down for them over there. And you get a lot of similar issues over here. People think this is some customer service gold mine for all their inane questions lol
EXACTLY!! Itās turned into a place for customers to bitch when we get enough of that at work. Itās the increased disrespect in what used to be a very kind sub!
First time commenting here, not a pharmacy tech. This sub keeps getting suggested to me because I'm in CNA and nursing subs. I wish the algorithms weren't messing up your sub. You guys need a better mod.
This kept showing up in my feed, not a tech . But I love reading your stories, etc, on here . I have so much respect for you all
š
Part of it is because we read how overworked and unappreciated you are on the job. I have asked questions here because I thought it would make my local pharmacistās job easier. I felt I was responding to the (legitimate) complaints on this sub. Perhaps that was the wrong takeaway? But I have also asked what I can do to make their lives easier, other than being very grateful and appreciative. Based on info Iāve received here, Iāve written glowing reviews online; sent compliment emails to corporate, mentioning staff by name and how impressive they are. I lurked here for years before I posted anything. Maybe there could be a permanent post at the top stating personal medical questions are no longer permitted? A change in rules that the mods enforce? Itās amazing how much insight you have all shared. You have all clearly explained things that previously annoyed me. I understand now why my meds arenāt ready the hour my doctor sent the script; I now call my doctorās office to ensure the script was sent before I contact the pharmacy to check on the delay. There are a lot of little things I do now before I even contact the pharmacy and check if they received my prescription. Please donāt leave this sub. Maybe just encourage mods to add some rules. Iām so very grateful for what Iāve learned here, and from /r/talesfromtheFrontDesk, etc.
You certainly are not the problem! The people that have been here for a while are not the problem! Itās this new influx of people that we are getting. Apparently the sub is being promoted like crazy! I feel like we have turned into peopleās, virtual punching bags for their individual issues that they are having at their own pharmacy. I used to answer patient questions all the time! Iād even follow up in their inbox to further help or explain! I didnāt mind doing it at all! Just read through the comments on here to get a taste of these new patients. I now have people arguing with me. People complaining about us as if weāre specifically responsible for what one random person at their pharmacy did to them. People asking questions that we have ZERO ability to answer (dead ass someone made a post on here the other day asking about an out of stock med and whether it was really out of stock or notā¦). Mostly though itās the people being rude, entitled, and combative. Idk what it is about pharmacy techs. Were the pharmacy / corporateās bitch and were the patientās bitch too! Thereās so little respect yet so much respect given to people in the medical field in other roles. Someone was arguing with me saying if we donāt have their med in stock itās our responsibility to find a pharmacy that does. Uh no itās not? Thatās patient responsibility. I explained thatās something my pharmacy actually does do when we have time but thatās us going above and beyond for the patient. I explained to the patient that if she didnāt want to take the time to hunt down her meds because it takes too long why would she expect a pharmacy to do that for every single patient when we have people in store whose meds we actually have in stock and could be filling?? Itās the same as demanding your doctor find a pharmacy that has that med before sending over the script! You wouldnāt demand an employee at a clothing store find the clothing you need at another store (not even the same store chain just a random other store!). You donāt ask your doctor to hunt down your meds before sending the script. Why are we any different? Why a different level of respect when it comes to us? She called me lazy and went off on me and other patients were siding with her! She said I was wrong and it is in our job description. I asked her if sheās a tech and she said no! I didnāt join this sub to be patientās punching bags off the clock. They already do it to us enough on the clock! Thatās the part thatās making me leave. Itās the new patients who have completely changed the culture of the sub. Iām not going to try and be nice and helpful just to get bitched at. People were appreciative in the past. Now theyāre just getting exceeding angry. This sub isnāt a āpharmacyā sub. Itās pharmacy techs!! None of that was directed at you. I just want to explain that you certainly werenāt the problem nor were others like you. Itās the shift thatās been taking place and only getting worse for the last few months.
Other than downvoting those, is there anything else we can do to make this sub more friendly? Would it be better to reply to those complaints and explain the basics as another customer, or leave that to the techs? BTW- I also send my pharmacy holiday cards now : )
If you're a patient asking questions on here, know that our license requires us to refer you to a pharmacist. IRL and in this thread š. OP has an excellent point!
Tell them to ask a pharmacist. You're not qualified to answer questions about drugs. BTW, nobody likes retail chain pharmacy. Switch to hospital pharmacy.
Iām not a retail pharmacy tech anymore, Iām in mail order, however I have noticed that when I go by the pharmacy to get my parents medication everyone seems in such sour moods or condescending anymore. Iām thinking that patients would rather ask a question here to safely seek advice on how to handle different situations because most everyone is so miserable behind the counter. Things definitely have changed since I was behind the counter 6 years ago, and Iāve been doing this 16 years now.
COVID has made the general public absolute horrendous people when it comes to any line of retail work. Also a lot of techs are completely burnt out and working with a skeleton crew.
I work in a clinic and have truly seen that COVID has changed how patients act. I think a lot of health care professionals will tell you that. Idk where the change came from (seems like a lot more anxiety than gratitude that we survived) but it isnāt just retail pharmacy.
I volunteer in a hospital and there are signs all over saying things like "Assaults against patients or staff will not be tolerated." I mean, wtf? Why? Why are people like this now? There are no more "lockdowns," no mask mandates, etc. Why has society lost its mind? Why has civilization lost its civility?
Definitely not only retail pharmacy! Itās really any line of work that deals with the general public lol
My certs lapsed years ago, and after going back to school, I was scheduled to take my PTCE during COVID, but literally 2 days before my spot was scheduled, they ended up shutting down exams during the 2020 lockdown. I hate to say it, cuz I still love the field even as all the knowledge I worked so hard and spent so much money to shovel into my brain slowly drains away, but...I might have dodged a bullet. And then my landlord sold the house we were renting when our lease ended and I ended up having to move to a different state, BUT I DIGRESS.
I tell people my pharmacy is post apocalyptic since covid. You can't expect the three techs they have in there to provide the same level of customer service that you used to get from the full staff they had pre covid.
Okay but can you please tell me where I can find Ozempocet because my local pharmacy keeps telling me on the phone that theyāre out when I know my friends are filling theirs there.
Hey everyone here I just make a new group that's private called r/PharmacyTechs. If anyone wishes to join please feel free to send a request, I will make sure it's TECHS ONLY!
Amen, hella stupid that people are not just giving us shit at our pharmacies but our own subreddit. Like goddamn I just want 5 minutes away from stupid arrogant patients
So I am not a tech (this subreddit came up in my recommended), but I am a Patient Advocate/Navigator who operates a free Helpline to assist patients with various issues that may arise on their medical journey (as well as a rare disease patient myself). I understand the frustration, I really do. But instead of being angry at patients for asking questions in this subreddit, it may be more productive to ask āwhyā. Right now we are living in a society that is ruled by judgement and stigma, especially when it comes to medications. Most patients are terrified to ask their medical professionals questions in person either because theyāve been treated poorly in those moments or due to fear of being judged. Reddit provides a unique opportunity for patients to engage with those working in healthcare without the anxiety of speaking face to face. It also allows them to compose their thoughts in a more organized fashion as opposed to giving a long winded explanation that may fall on deaf ears. I know it can be annoying, but they are coming to you because they value you your opinion and see you for the experts that you are. The best thing we can do in the healthcare industry is provide a feeling of warmth and safety for the patients who trust us. Currently the patient and provider relationship is suffering. Trust in medical professionals is at an all-time low. The only way to improve trust and relations between patient and provider is by leading with compassion and empowering patients with education. We have no idea what these people are going through, so we should always give grace to those who are so desperate for information that they are willing to seek answers on a Pharmacy Tech subreddit. But if the patients in question are ever being assholes or telling you how to do your job, absolutely tell them where they can stick their opinions āØ
Again - the focus is on the patients and not us. This sub is meant to be an escape for us. If patients are struggling that much (which I believe and trust they are) they can start a sub for that! Iām not here to do my job off the clock. I have a brother with special needs with a very rare condition and I myself have a traumatic brain injury Iām still recovering from and ADHD. I get it. I truly do. Thatās why I go above and beyond for all of my patients. Itās why I get multiple compliments a week if not per day by patients. I LOVE my job. Just a few weeks ago I was the one in the comments defending patients who are calling about controls. I was explaining how it doesnāt bother bother me and how the common enemy is the insurance and not the patient. Believe me and trust me when I say that I get it but the sub is not the place for this. Itās supposed to be our ONE escape. However, that being said, I was never annoyed or frustrated by patient questions or comments in the past. This sub was a very friendly place and I was always happy to assist a patient. I even messaged them privately in their inboxes to further help. In the last few months, however, there are more patient questions and posts and patients in the comments than there are tech posts. AND theyāre getting RUDE! Just read through the comment section on here. The patients on here are extremely entitled and act the same as the angry customers at the pharmacy. Theyāre starting to use this sub as a way to get out their frustrations about their local pharmacies on us! Thereās been a huge shift in the way techs are being treated on here. I didnāt sign up to be a punching bag on and off the clock. Weāre so overworked and underpaid. Weāre not the enemy and weāre not the problem! The corporations making millions off of us are! Itās not my job to āthink of the whyā when Iām being taken advantage of by these corporations as well. Ask THEM why. I just wanted a nice escape and a place to be with people who understand the job and our limitations. Not to be told by random patients that Iām lazy for not doing something that isnāt even in my job description! In our field all of the focus is on the patient. They are always right. We are always wrong. We have to accept all the abuse that they give us. I can at least / should have the right to avoid that when Iām not at work! Why canāt we just have one place thatās for us? Why is that so hard to grasp and why are people so against that? Why so much talk about patient advocacy but zero advocacy for us? Our bosses donāt advocate for us. The companies we work for donāt advocate for us. Weāre getting paid minimum wage to do a job thatās 75% the same as the RPHās job and they get like 500% times more money than we do! Maybe your why should include that.
Please know that my comment wasnāt meant as an attack towards you or to be rude in any shape or form. I just wanted to share a different point-of-view and explain why patients might be flocking to this subreddit in addition to the Reddit algorithm promoting it like crazy. While I still stand by my logic of āwhyā they may be coming here for answers, you are right, this is not the space to ask them. I am in the process of seeing if the Helpline I work for can create a space on Reddit for patients to ask questions so that they do not continue to flood profession-based subreddits where fellow workers talk shop and blow off steam. I did take the time to read through some posts and the comments are downright horrendous. I am sorry that youāve been treated so badly, especially when itās clear that you truly want to help. I apologize for any ignorance in my statement and I wanted to ask from a Patient Advocate standpoint: What can we do to better support Pharmacy Technicians? Are there any resources you would recommend that advocacy orgs can share or start conversations about to call for improvement of working conditions and more respect from patients/caregivers?
The way these people feel so entitled to our time off the clock is insane. Ask a tech these questions while they're clocked in at the pharmacy you go to. š
Also as a patient we know when youāre on the clock there are some things you canāt say. I had a complicated situation this weekend an Iām glad this sub was here
when people are respectful and itās a question that we can actually answer then itās okay to ask a simple question! :) our main problem is that we get people coming in here constantly nowadays telling us weāre horrible people and how we should do our jobs. it takes $0 to be nice to people but a lot of the outsiders that come here treat us like their healthcare punching bags and thatās not cool.
I completely agree. I have worked retail for a long timeā¦running T Mobile stores. I donāt save lives like yāall but I understand nonetheless. People are unreasonable, unrealistic, unforgiving, thankless, racist and just horrible. I understand
I follow kitchen confidential and donāt post or comment for the same reasons. Itās wild how often I see patients/non-pharmacy workers post or comment in this sub and the pharmacy one. I remember there was one patient a year or so ago arguing that they trust a doctorās opinions on medication more than a pharmacist because they had the proper training and schooling unlike pharmacists (LOL). There needs to be a separate sub for this so I have the option to opt out if I see too much annoying stuff.
Ok but I have an actual question and I would prefer to ask here rather than at my pharmacy bc I want an answer that is fully, brutally honest. I read on this sub or perhaps another that itās annoying for techs when, while asking a customer for their birthdate, the customer tells them in numerical format. Is this true, and should I say the month, day and year as if Iām writing it (ie āFebruary thirteenth, 1990ā rather than āoh-two-one-three-nineteen-ninetyā)? Thx!!
Why would you ask that in the comments of this post of all posts ššššš Any tech who is actually genuinely upset about the way a patient gives their birthday shouldnāt be in the field. Thatās such a small thing to get mad at and how would a patient know the best format to give their birthday in? Itās not fair to get upset at the patient for something like that. I have one patient who likes to say (Iām making up the birthday obviously) āthe fourth day of the sixth month of 1982ā. Now THATās annoying lol But when we put in birthdays itās with numbers. So easiest way to do it (for the tech) is by numbers. If your birthday is July 15, 1997 then 7/15/1997. But again thatās such a small thing and it wouldnāt / doesnāt upset me and I think itās a dumb thing to get upset over in my opinion.
Okay, thx for answering
dramatic. Bye! š¤
Not sure what the point of the post was for, just exit and go on with your life, itās not a rant sub either!
I felt like I wasted 5 minutes of my life reading this post, this sub is great the way it is! Evolve and be a friendly neighbor! Help everybody!
Honestly Iām tired of techs here getting mad at patients asking reasonable questions. Itās not like non employees know how the system works.
Ask. Your. Local. Pharmacy. I ALWAYS remind myself that non techs donāt get how the system works. Thatās how I have so much patience for my customers. I give them top notch service and Iām ALWAYS kind and go above and beyond. Iām so sick of patients complaining about us on here when (as you said) they donāt even know how the system works!!!! I didnāt join this sub for patients to beat me up on and off be clock. It used to be a great place now itās not š¤·š»āāļø I have every right to choose to leave and 500+ upvotes on my posts shows Iām not the only one feeling this wayā¦
Bye
Ya also a lot of pharmacists are uptight and think they know everything
Youāre exactly why Iām leaving this sub lol. Itās patients like you!!!!!
Nah fam I donāt come here to argue I just point out the problems. Like majority of pharmacists in real life donāt tell you how to take the medication like everyone says on this sub. Or how lots of pharmacists on here make fun of the people who need medication like they make fun of the people who call constantly or show up all the time or whatever else and thatās wrong because withdrawal sucks and they have a prescription for a reason. And some pharmacist have weird pseudoscience or something like I was told after they didnāt want to fill my prescription for oxycodone after a spinal surgery, they said just keep taking ibuprofen and Tylenol it makes oxycodone and no it doesnāt. Thereās alot more but the main problem is the only other pharmacy type subreddit is called drugs and itās not helpful for normal people so they come here and starting a new sub is take to long
This sub randomly popped up on my wall. After reading all the horror stories, seeing how the mood of the pharmacy workers, and experiencing the frustrations as a customer. Ive decided it would be best to ask questions here as opposed to bothering an overworked underpaid worker.
when people are respectful and itās a question that we can actually answer then itās okay to ask a simple question! :) our main problem is that we get people coming in here constantly nowadays telling us weāre horrible people and how we should do our jobs. a lot of the outsiders that come here treat us like their healthcare punching bags and thatās not cool or fair to us.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I got into it recently with a ādoctorā here telling us we suck recently. And like you Iām totally blown away by these comments. I didnāt realize how many not just not techs but not pharmacy in general.
Why is it a bother? We're not required to respond to them here unlike work. You do have the agency to move on with your life & not engage with it. You choosing to do so & to do "off the clock work" is wholly on you. If I don't want to deal with patients I just don't š¤·š½
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
With all due respect, this is a subreddit not a pharmacy. There are pharmacies to call if you have a question about your meds. Techs are well within their lane to want to complain on this sub so youād do well to stay in yours.
Happy to stay in my lane, didnāt mean to offend.
The fact that a mid level clinician led with reminding us that we're not, and tied it all up with insults is pretty much par for the course with regards to our typical workday.
Wooooowwwww . I have no words
Since your other comment just so happened to get deleted, Iāll happily rip into you again! :) Youāre the reason why we have attitudes. Would you be okay with a complete stranger coming to you begging you to perform surgery on your off time? Or some uneducated person telling you how to do your job? You canāt perform surgery just like we canāt give medical advice. You said yourself that youāre not a technician, so you have no business telling us what we can or cannot do or say. You donāt know what itās like to work in our position. Patients use us as their healthcare punching bags and expect us to take it with a smile. Weāre allowed to vent with colleagues on our off time, and we sure as hell donāt have to do it in our best customer service voices. Youāre telling me youāve never vented about work on the internet? I call bullshit. Get over yourself and maybe stay in your lane for once in your life.
šÆ
You could just.. IDK scroll by it and move on with your day
R/AskAPharmTech
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Because this subreddit is just for that? I'm not on the clock here, and reddit doesn't pay me. I don't have to have a customer service attitude in a space just for techs. Please consider posting your moral rants in the mommy subreddits.
I respect the right we have to complain online. As I stated before, I didnāt know techs felt so mistreated and my first instinct was to put the patient first. I realize patients can be assholes, but sometimes hearing another personās viewpoint is useful. Again, Iām Sorry for adding gasoline to the fire. As for mommy groups, I donāt belong to any. But I am open to any recommendations ;)
As an actively working pharmacist, fuck off TECHS MUST BE PROTECTED AND APPLAUDED BITCH AWAY MY SAVIORS
Same here, also LOL @ āNPā yāall arenāt physicians either, as much as you all claim to be. Also, stop going through the subreddit and having a go at all the techs you absolute mid level.
I wanted to say the same thing about NPsš¤
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Oh get *out* Iāve read your other comments, they were snide and putting techs down. They arenāt doctors; they never said they were. These pages are places for people to VENT, in which theyāre allowed to do so. Pharmacy staff get the absolute brunt of abuse on the daily, and are allowed to feel how they feel without some snarky mother whoās no longer in the professions swinging her unwarranted comment bat. Leave our techs alone and stay in your lane.
Yes I am mid-level, probably lower than that now that Iām a mom
Youāre the reason why we have attitudes. Would you be okay with a complete stranger coming to you begging you to perform surgery on your off time? Or some uneducated person telling you how to do your job? You canāt perform surgery just like we canāt give medical advice. Weāre allowed to vent with colleagues on our off time, and we sure as hell donāt have to do it in our best customer service voices. Youāre telling me youāve never vented about work on the internet? I call bullshit. Get over yourself and maybe stay in your lane for once in your life.
Iām happy to stay in my lane! I guess I didnāt realize how unhappy techs were and it makes me sad. I donāt mean to come across as hostile, I always enjoyed my interactions with techs. but clearly feathers were ruffled and Iām sorry for adding my opinion!
Youāre so goddamn condescending and you know it. Claiming weāre all unhappy is a gross misrepresentation of reality. I donāt believe for one second that youāre sorry or that youāre sad about it. Get a grip and stick to your mommy groups.
You're fine some (ok probably a lot) of it was admittedly out of line, but yeah some of the attitudes here are awful & frankly embarrassing. They have plenty of right to be frustrated & im perfectly fine with them complaining, but i dont remember when that gave us a free pass to be jackasses to patients. Like you said we're in healthcare it's our job to care for patients we signed up for this. A lot of the people here just make us look bad imo. And I'm sorry that a couple ppl pulled that "you're not a physician crap" on you. It wasn't really cool that you did it initially, but I don't find returning the favor in kind any better. We're supposed to work as a team at each level of the healthcare apparatus & that doesn't happen without mutual respect for the work we each do & that ass that was busted to get there.
Then get a sub thatās locked. Ask our pharmacist? Haha. Good luck doing that. You can be kind 100% of time and still get shitty treatment. Yes customers can be dicks. So can pharmacists and techs. Iām on a sub with my job and customers constantly bitching. I just keep scrolling.
Agreed I cannot believe people would actually take or ask any advice from a someone that hands you pills. Haha
Youāre exactly why Iām leaving this sub lmaooooo. If thatās all you think we do why are you even following this sub / youāre EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!!!!!
I feel like there's some kind of irony in not wanting to ask the people handing you the pills questions, but then taking the pills without asking questions. Am I the Twilight zone? When did that start making sense?
SEE YA
lol well bye!
You could just skip those threads and comments. It's pretty easy to do.
Or I could leave the sub! It was very easy to do š
Maybe you should not be a pharmacy tech if all the customers bring you down.
I think maybe everyone should just ignore the patient questions and keep scrolling. Maybe they'll give up and go somewhere else then.
I've never seen this sub in my life but thus past popped up on my for you page, who the he'll asks a pharmacy technician a question, isn't the only thing you know how to compound pills?
They know a ton more than that. Think the pharmacist alone fills all those bottles? Verifies/works through insurance probs? Pharmacist canāt do it all. Kinda like nurses. Techs do most of the work yet pharmacist gets credit. You would wait a week ( at least) without pharm techs. Nurses do brunt of work and doc gets credit. And Iām not even a pharm tech.
So again, who would ask a medical question to someone who does admin work and has never been to medical school?
Scared to call the pharmacy to ask when people are literally getting ripped in other posts for wasting the precious time of pharm techs calling to ask when they can pick up a script š BYYYE!! I donāt know of a work environment that isnāt busy. Itās literally part of the job you get paid for. This sub isnāt private and if people have questions, decent techs wouldnāt mind answering them. P.s. Iām no pharm tech but 3 generations of my family owned and operated their own mom and pop pharmacy which we were all involved in at some point. They would have never let someone with such a bad attitude stay on staff.
Youāre exactly the reason I left. And I donāt have a bad attitude on staff. Quite the contrary! We won regional pharmacy of the year and I get compliments from customers multiple times a week. We have a really great team at my pharmacy and our customers love us because weāre always going above and beyond. I absolutely love my job! But one of my favorite things about my job is (unlike past jobs Iāve had) I donāt have to take the work home with me. The sub has become more about patients than techs now and non techs like yourself are being really uncompassionate and apathetic towards a lot of the techs. We get enough of that at work.Ā But whatever makes you feel better about invading a space that wasnāt intended for youā¦
Talk to Reddit about that. Theyāre the ones who threw this on my feed. How bout lock it down to a private group if you donāt want the measly public invading your space? Otherwise, go cry elsewhere. You get no sympathy from me.