Pharmacy Technicians
Despite popular belief, pharmacy technicians are more than laborers; they are specially trained individuals. Imagine a family member is admitted to the University of South Alabama Hospital with an acute case of pneumonia, which will require oral and intravenous medications.
These medications must be precisely prepared and properly delivered. The common perception is that pharmacists prepare medications and technicians simply deliver them. This view of their job is both accurate and inaccurate.
Pharmacy technicians are most often seen as the pharmacy’s “delivery-boy”.
Technicians are responsible for timely delivery of medications. However, delivery of medications is more than the act of getting drugs to a
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The aseptic technique requires the sterile manipulation of syringes, vials, and medication in the confines of a vertical and horizontal laminar flow hood. Both of these skills can be taught. Most pharmacy technicians receive on the job training. The on-the-job training usually last for no more than six weeks, which is approximately two percent of the time a pharmacist must dedicate to their training. Ethical consciousness cannot be taught; only those who consider the implications of their daily tasks acquire it. Technicians lacking professional ethics will endanger patient’s lives.
Many ethical technicians make the choice to seek certification. Technicians are not required to become certified by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board, but thousands of technicians become certified each year. Certification, however, does not test the abilities of the technician. It simply tests the knowledge required to complete various tasks. A technician being certified brings up additional implications involving questions of liability between the pharmacist and technician..
A pharmacist must check any medication that is administered to a patient. This is the focus of their job. Nevertheless, if an error occurs they are not the only responsible party. Most laws involving medical liability state that liability lies with the company and the competent medical professionals involved with error. Once a technician
Roles and responsibilities of the person dispensing the medication is to check to make sure the prescription is legal and signed by a qualified person, ensure there are no errors, to dispense the right quantity and dose of medication, make sure the medication is clearly labelled with the instructions of the dose, the name of the medication and person, provide advice and treatment for any minor illnesses and health concerns. Pharmacies will also provide a repeat prescription service.
A growing demand has emerged in the healthcare field for well-trained pharmacy technicians to assist the pharmacist in many practice settings by assuming greater responsibilities. These may include order entry, filing prescription orders, compounding sterile preparations, cart fill exchanges, inventory control, operation of automated technology, utilizing the computer system as well as fulfilling other patient specific duties. Well-trained pharmacy technicians in retail and institutional settings are a vital part of the healthcare team.
Pharmacists are highly educated in the form, uses, and interactions of certain medicines and also in how those medicines affect normal body functions. They keep thorough patient medication records, which contain
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA 2009), the wrong route of administrating medication accounts for 1.3 million injuries each year. An article published in September issue of the Journal of Patient Safety estimates there are between 210,000 and 400,000 deaths per year associated with medical errors. This makes medical errors the third leading cause of deaths in the United States, behind that comes heart disease and cancer. To prevent medical errors always follow the Three Checks and most importantly the Rights of Medication Administration. The “Rights of Medication Administration” helps to ensure accuracy when administering medication to a patient. When administering medication the administer should ensure they have the Right Medication, Right Patient, Right Dosage, Right Route, Right Time, Right Route, Right Reason, and Right Documentation. Also remember the patient has the right to refuse, assess patient for pain, and always assess the patient for signs of effects.
when you think about the fact that a pharmacist’s job is to protect the patient by making sure the medication is appropriate and
rights, health, and safety of the patient.” This provision, identifying patients, medication safety are related because it is a nurse’s responsibility to protect the patient from harm and promote safety. Nurses are taught to use multiple checks before administering a drug and use two identifiers. These checks include checking the medication against the order when obtaining it, checking again when preparing the medication and the last check is done at the patient’s bedside prior to giving the medication. Also it is imperative to question any medication order that does not seem fit. The order should include a date, time, name of the medication, dosage strength, the route for
* All medication should be recorded and signed for by the receiving pharmacist and a proper record maintained in-house.
Pharmacy technicians must be at least 18 years of age, register with the State Board of
A requirement for becoming a Pharmacy Technician is to register with the State Board of Pharmacy, which means the state that you are located in you will have to register there. I order to be eligible for registering you must have a high school diploma showing proof that you have graduated, which is one of the requirements. You will have to get a background check including having your finger printed. Doing this shows that you have a clear background, and can be eligible in working in this type of field where you’re dealing with other people’s health life. An application has to be submitted with the requiring fee that was given prior to filling out the application. The final results of the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board’s National Pharmacy
The passing of the pharmacy technician certification exam is another requirement that has to be done in
We are the highest paid job a side from Nursing Assistants and Medical Assistants. You don’t have to be certified to work as a pharmacy technician, but if you do get certified you will get paid more. You could make up to 40,000 dollars per year if certified. Working at a retail store, you would be considered as a Pharmacy Service Associate. Pharmacy Technician are known everywhere, Nigeria, Germany, United Kingdom and India. If you would to like to become an LPN, taking a Pharmacy Technician class wouldn’t hurt because when you go to nursing school you would have to take three pharmacy technician classes. It would be excellent because you would already have some knowledge. In my trade, there are 100 pills that we have to know the name, side effects and functions
What does it take to become a Pharmacy Tech? Well I’m here to give you a little information on things you need or must have to become one. There are a couple steps you need to take, from having an Extensive Background Check to Immunizations you will need, other items and criteria are just a few simple steps into becoming a Pharmacy Tech.
There are some jobs that need pharmacy technicians that possibly make twenty-two dollars an hour. Most pharmacists get paid by salary and pharmacy technicians can possibly control their hours and sometimes even work part-time if requested or assigned. Each work environment has their similarities and differences even though the same duties are being performed. The different supervisors or manager on duty in a retail store may have you do things a different way from what you must do in the hospital regarding the
Pharmacy technician can propel their professions from numerous points of view. Further training is one way. Pharmacy technicians have chances to progress into supervisory positions. It might take quite a while to be advanced into more elevated amount administration positions, however they do exist.
This career goes unnoticed because many do not see the importance of it. Without this field, the balance in the medical community would be disrupted due to patients not receiving their medication to sustain their life. Although this career may seem easy, there are important characteristics one must hold in order to be a successful pharmacist.