It's days like today where I wish I didn't work in the healthcare field. I am here at work, sick as a dog, and can't leave. It's not because I am the owner and sole pharmacist of my store, it's because I'm a pharmacist. I did my fair share of rounds at a chain. I was pharmacist in charge at a high volume store in an urban area at one point of my career. But it's the same there too. Let me paint a picture...
The night before I work, I start feeling achy, feverish, stuffy, coughing, sneezing, runny, pretty much everything imaginable. I call my district manager/supervisor and let them know what I'm feeling and tell them that I'm not sure if I can work tomorrow. Then he/she tells me that they are going to call around and see if they can find me coverage, but, if they don't call me back to let me know, then assume that no coverage was found and go into work anyway. So I go to bed with no call back and sleep for about 2 hours because of my sickness. I get into work and call my supervisor again and say that I'm dying out there that I can't work these 14 hours I'm scheduled to work. He/she tells me that they will make some phone calls and maybe I can get out of work early. A little hope sparks me. I work and work and work, checking prescriptions, sneezing in pill bottles, and giving flu shots. Minutes turn to hours and next thing you know, I've been working for 13 and 1/2 hours already. I close the pharmacy and about 10:30 and drive my 35 minute commute. After getting home and showering, I get to bed close to midnight. Time to go to sleep and do this all again tomorrow.
Unfortunately, that's reality for pharmacists. I'm sick now, but like I said earlier, I run my own store, so being sick is not so much of a big deal now. I suck it up and fill my scripts, as many as I can. And there's the benefit of not working 14 hours.
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