from RN to Pharmacy tech

[neatnurse30]

Hi everybody,

I'm an RN for 2.5 years now working on medical oncology floor. The way I see things are done in hospital, and how stressful and disrespectful nursing is, I'm thinking about career change before I get too old. I can't force myself going to hospital anymore. I'm thinking about becoming Pharmacy Technician, because I could use a lot of my knowledge there and not have to deal with patients. Do you know anybody who quit nursing and started a new career and is happy now? What do you know about the job as a Pharmacy Technician?

[CarlieChicRN]

That's funny... I was a pharmacy tech, but am now in nursing school. I did like it, and I was good at it, but it was definitely NOT stress free. You really wouldn't use your RN experience or knowledge since you're not administering meds, so you don't need to know anything about them, and only the pharmacist can counsel patients. I feel like the only advantage I have over others in my class from the experience is knowing what brand and generic names go together, what the meds are for (some), and what they look like, but I know virtually nothing about the side effects. It's a lot of dealing with insurance, which is the worst part. They are a pain to deal with. I would definitely stick with nursing, but find a different specialty that's less stressful. This is the reason I chose nursing, because I thought pharmacy would get old, but with nursing you can switch it up if you don't like it. Good luck with your career! :)

[rdy2strt]

My mom's friend is a pharmacy technician at Walgreens and loves it, but the pay isn't the best. Nursing is a career with many fields, perhaps you would enjoy working in Family Medicine or Obstetrics. Nursing is a great career with a great salary, I wouldn't give it up. There are many fields in it and better promotions.

Maybe she's see something in pharmacy I don't. A pharmacy technician is pretty much a dead end job unless you want to become a pharmacist. I think good technicians and pharmacists get absolutely no respect what so ever at the retail level, in the hospitals they are treated as more of a profession. Techs make more in hospitals, and Pharmacists make more in retail. A majority of the time in retail is dealing with insurance issues and explaining to someone why their medication isn't covered by their insurance which you have nothing to do with. Your job is to assist the pharmacist whether they are good or bad. Which means you can work with a moron of a pharmacist who does absolutely nothing all day while you do 95% of their job for them and it's all about what can the company do to make the pharmacist's life easier with disregard to the other people. A majority of people don't think you're trying to help them in the pharmacy and only care why they can't get there prescription in 5 mins, never mind their safety, or the law and regulations in place, etc. I agree that nursing has many fields and if you can't handle or don't like one area of it there are plenty other areas to go and options to go into. I doubt nurses get much respect even though I think the job can be more stressful, but it can be a lot more rewarding(pharmacy can be stressful as well but probably not close to the same level). I think in retail pharmacy techs are glorified cashiers/secretaries and a joke(not taking anything away from those jobs but that's not why I became a pharmacy technician), the other options as a tech are mail order, long term care, hospital, compounding, and nuclear pharmacies to work in as a technician, but those jobs are more rare and when they do come along you need a bit of experience to get them. I think experienced pharm techs are extremely underpaid for what they do, but starting pay is far for how much they know or can do. In the end its whatever you want to do but in my opinion nursing is a much better career choice if made for the right reasons. Didn't mean to rant this much.

Cheers!

[rdy2strt]

Can anyone give some info about how to switch from pharmacy tech to RN. I mean how many years in school will it take ??

Though the post is outdated anyone who comes across this. Look at either 2 or 4 year nursing programs at schools you may want to attend in or out of your area. Get your pre req's done making sure you meet the programs requirements and apply to the nursing program. If you do a 2 year program for ADN you can always go back or continue along for ADN to BSN. It may seem like a while to become a RN, but I think the time and effort will be worth it. I think it will provide a more rewarding and much better career then a pharmacy tech for a majority of people that consider it. If pharmacy is your thing stick with it and make every effort to become a pharmacist.

[rdy2strt]

That's funny... I was a pharmacy tech, but am now in nursing school. I did like it, and I was good at it, but it was definitely NOT stress free. It's a lot of dealing with insurance, which is the worst part. They are a pain to deal with. I would definitely stick with nursing, but find a different specialty that's less stressful. This is the reason I chose nursing, because I thought pharmacy would get old, but with nursing you can switch it up if you don't like it. Good luck with your career! :)

:yeah:

Totally Agree!

[FutureNurseKaturah]

If you want to do something in Pharmacy I would honestly suggest PharmD. That would be the only thing that could be considered a "step up" as far as money goes :) I'm still in-between a NICU nurse and a PharmD career.

[love7777]

stick to nursing

[Denrave31]

Well, I've been a pharmacy tech for 12 years and I am currently in nursing school! lol at the end of the day you do what makes you happy. If i were you, I would do it just to have it on the side ( the pharmacy certification) and I would work a few days as an RN and a few days as a pharm tech - You make about $21 an hour in NYC with experience. You don't have to be at the bedside as an RN either so you have a lot of options ! Hope that helped. Take care and good luck.