Pharmacists Say They Can't Do Their Jobs Well, Mistakes Can End Careers: CNN

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- 'Mistakes at work happen. For pharmacists, it can end their career,' CNN, Dec, 17, 2023. 🥼

New York, CNN
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It’s every pharmacist’s worst fear: To come home from a busy day at work and realize that they failed to consult with a patient about a potentially dangerous interaction, or filled a prescription incorrectly.

Workers at chain pharmacies across the US have told CNN that increased demand for prescriptions, shots and other services without sufficient staff to fulfill those orders has made it nearly impossible for the workers to do their jobs properly and has created potentially unsafe conditions for customers.

Mistakes happen, especially when workers are burnt out and busy. But when a pharmacist errs, the implications can be both legal – pharmacists can be sued for malpractice – and lethal. Errors can cost lives, tie pharmacists up in prolonged court battles and cost them their livelihoods. A safe workplace: A 2022 National Community Pharmacists Association survey showed that nearly 75% of respondents felt they did not have enough time to safely perform clinical duties and patient care.

It’s worries like these that led some pharmacists to walk out of CVS and Walgreens stores pharmacies this autumn, workers told CNN. Stores increasingly operate with just one pharmacist behind the counter for a 12-hour shift. “Pharmacists are so overwhelmed and worried that they’re going to make a mistake. It’s so easy to make a mistake under those conditions,” said Shane Jerominski, a pharmacist and labor advocate who spent a decade working at chain pharmacies including Walgreens and CVS...
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/12/17/economy/pharmacists-cvs-walgreens-errors/index.html