Worker Wellness Blog: Understaffing Pharmacies

Date Posted: November 7, 2023

Posted In: Discussion, Ideas, Workforce,

by Dr. John Gaal

Editor’s Note: Each week, Dr. John Gaal, director of worker wellness for the Missouri Works Initiative, a non-profit workforce formed by the Missouri AFL-CIO, collects and comments on news and trends in workforce wellness and life balance. Construction Forum carries the Worker Wellness & Well-Being Blog as a regular feature.

The MO Works Initiative focuses on creating healthy and recovery friendly workplaces; connecting laid-off workers with job-search or upskilling resources for future employment; and collaborating with community partners to offer innovative points of entry to traditional apprenticeship opportunities.

This week’s edition of our Worker Wellness & Well-being blog consists of topics concerning how the change from Daylight Savings Time physically and mentally influences your life; to about how marijuana may do more harm than good when it comes to anxiety; to how ride-share companies have been called out for issues related to wage theft.

Today, I wish to shed some light on the topic of understaffing pharmacies across our communities.

Have you been to a neighborhood pharmacy lately? It is not a stretch to suggest that what you will find is akin to 1920s sweatshop conditions! Too often, I have observed one pharmacist overseeing 3-4 pharmacy technicians behind the counter with little time to assist me: the patient.

Furthermore, mainly because of COVID, several chains have added duties to the pharmacist’s to-do list in order to generate additional revenue: Think vaccines. In turn, there is less time for the one doctoral-level professional on-duty to address the specific health needs of her/his patients in a thorough, compassionate manner…ultimately impacting the safety and quality of life of both patients and employees!

So, once again, we are confronted with the issue of worker shortages. However, if you dig deep enough, you will find there are plenty of pharmacists in this nation but few who are willing to work under the aforementioned conditions. Therefore, not unlike the nurses who are leaving their profession in droves, we are losing more institutional knowledge in this realm due to a healthcare system that arrogantly continues to place profits over people.

Please check out the rest of this week’s blog:  moworksinitiative.org/blog

Sources:

https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/cvs-walgreens-pharmacy-employees-work-2bae98d2

https://the1a.org/segments/pharmageddon-and-the-future-of-retail-pharmacies/