Job as Pharmacy technician?

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Aug 19, 2005

I think that here in California you have to finish a Pharmacy Technician course. The pay range sounds right. The Pharmacy Techs do odd jobs around the pharmacy area, give customers their filled prescriptions after verifying some identifying information and notify the pharmacist that counseling needs to be done with the customer. In California they do not dispense any of the medication. That is solely reserved for the pharmacist or pharmacy interns.

Let me clarify that you are asking about Pharmacy Tech, the people who work in a pharmacy assisting the pharmacist. Or, are you referring to a medication tech job where you pass medications to patients?

noclpn · Aug 19, 2005

I worked as a pharm. tech for a month. I was already an LPN. If you are a nurse, it will drive you crazy. Pharm techs FILL the prescription. I worked there 2 weeks and I was filling meds. The pharmacist just opens the bottle, looks at it, and off it goes. Noone is doubling checking the number of pills or anything. Hydrocodone is on the shelf available for anyone to access that works in the pharmacy. Bottles are left on the tech work space. It was very hard to adjust, since it is drilled in your head not to turn your back when meds are out. I was very worried working there, lots of mistakes I caught. In most states, you only need a high school diploma or ged. It was not for me, also in a busy pharmacy it is as stressful as nursing. I worked for a national chain and I was shocked at how careless meds were handled. On top of that, they paid me 8.00 because I was a nurse. Most got 7.00! I went back to LTC. I just took the job because of the hours. They let me make my schedule.

fireflyLPN · Aug 19, 2005

Hi,

I am not sure if this was the intention of the post, but I will give you my 2 pesos ... I worked as a pharm tech for a year before I went to nursing school. I would look up meds from time to time while I filled them, and asked the Pharmacist Q's about different meds during down periods... This experience helped me IMMENSELY!! I did not have to constantly cram while taking pharm, one of the hardest classes in nursing school. I wish you the best of luck with whatever you decide!

sunnyjohn · Aug 19, 2005

Hi. Not sure, but I think JessicaG who posts here often was a pharmacy tech. She knows her stuff. I am sure she can fill you in on details of the job.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Aug 19, 2005

I was a pharmacy tech for several years before nursing school. I found it was very useful to have the background in dispensing and still do. I did a lot of things besides counting pills... data entry, compounding topicals, reconstituting liquid antibiotics, filing and reporting on government programs, customer service and ordering. It was an interesting job, and I use what I learned all the time. I worked with a nurse who had left the profession after a brutal assault; she was permitted to provide med advice while I couldn't, because she kept her license current. But the pay really did stink!