What You Need to Know About the Pharmacist Strikes According to a Pharmacist
Written by Alexandria Yarborough, PharmD
Picture this: It’s Monday morning and you wake up with a terrible cough and have lost your voice. You’re fatigued, have a fever, and just feel crappy. You call in sick to work and make a doctor’s appointment. You are able to be squeezed in to the last appointment of the day. Surprise: Sinus infection! You’re prescribed an antibiotic, prescription cough syrup, and a recommendation for over-the-counter (OTC) products. You ask for the prescriptions to be sent to your normal pharmacy, which your doctor does, but he or she leaves it up to you to ask the pharmacist your questions about OTC products when you arrive.
One problem: there’s no pharmacist to ask. Why? Your pharmacy never opened today.
After driving across town from your doctor’s office, you walk inside to find the store is open, but the pharmacy is closed.. There is no sign, no information; you’re so confused.
You talk to a store manager that mentions the pharmacy never opened today. So, yo now you can’t get your prescriptions and can’t ask the pharmacy staff about the OTC recommendation. You call your doctor’s office to see if they can send it to another pharmacy but now they’re closed. You leave a message, but there is no one there to receive it. Instead of leaving with your medications in hand to start getting some sinus relief, you go home still sick and without any medication. Hopefully, the pharmacy that’s been your pharmacy will be open tomorrow.
Unfortunately this scenario has become more and more common across the country over the last few months. So far, there have been walkouts in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Michigan, Missouri and Indiana.
Many pharmacy workers are calling in sick or walking off the job to protest what they call inadequate staffing and increasing work requirements. They say it’s harder to do their jobs safely, so they aren’t doing their jobs at all. Known as Pharmageddon on social media, the protests by pharmacy staff are affecting multiple CVS and Walgreens locations.
Who Is Protesting?
Pharmacists earn good salaries. They are not asking for more wages as is common in most strikes. Instead, they are protesting stressful and unsafe working conditions.
Bled Tanoe, a former Walgreens pharmacist in Oklahoma City, now works in a hospital and said in a New York Times article that she was helping to spread the word about the walkouts because she was concerned that pharmacy chains had been telling workers for years to “work faster and work with less help.”
“Pharmacies are not OK,” Tanoe said. “It’s a [dangerous]; [...]companies have lost the core belief of what we do, which is patient care and patient focus.” Pharmacy staff say their work requirements leave them unable to safely fill and verify prescriptions, putting patients at risk of serious harm or even death.
The American Pharmacists Association said in a statement supporting the walkouts that pharmacists had contended for years with “workplace issues, leading to frustrations and burnout, affecting…mental health and well-being.”
The association blamed, among other factors, quotas on the number of prescriptions filled per hour and vaccines administered per day. Many pharmacies measure not only how many vaccines are administered but how many are co-administered, encouraging pharmacists to recommend up to 4 vaccines to a single patient at once.
Alexandria Yarborough, PharmD, is a Community Pharmacist and Pharmacist in Charge in South Carolina. She has almost a decade of experience in the field of pharmacy.
Why Is the Workload Increasing?
Pharmacists are no longer allowed to be simply pharmacists.
The typical role of a pharmacist includes checking prescriptions, identifying potential drug interactions, verifying patient allergies and educating patients on how and when to take their medication. Pharmacists are also responsible for administering vaccinations, interacting with insurance companies, overseeing pharmacy staff, and staying up to date with required record keeping.
In the past few years, their role has changed from a healthcare provider to more of a business manager. They are expected to promote the purchase of OTC products, manage floor sales, and told to approach potential patients in the aisle to find out where they currently fill their prescriptions. They are also tracked on how many patients/customers sign up for membership or credit cards, and if patients transfer all of their prescriptions for themselves and their family members from other pharmacies.
The increased workload, coupled with a lack of support, has led to feelings of stress, burnout, and compromised patient care. A Walgreens pharmacist in South Carolina mentioned she was lucky if she was able to go to the bathroom twice in 12 hours.
“It’s always so busy. I usually have about 200 prescriptions in the queue to be filled and checked, 3 phone calls waiting, and 2-3 vaccinations ready to be given at all times. On top of that I usually have one technician at the cash register and one at the drive thru; no one is available to fill.”
With pharmacy staff busy assisting customers, it leaves the pharmacist as the sole worker inputting, filling, and verifying prescriptions. That leaves a lot of phone calls unanswered, prescriptions unfilled, and a huge margin for error.
Each year an estimated 100,000 prescription errors are voluntarily reported to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) resulting in 7,000- 9,000 deaths.
To make matters worse, there is the sick leave policy for pharmacists, as they are considered salaried, non-exempt workers. Most people do not realize that most retail pharmacies do not have sick time available to their pharmacists, they are required to utilize their PTO or their paycheck will be adjusted if no PTO is available. It is also expected they find their own coverage when they are “sick”.
But There Are So Many Pharmacies…
According to the Washington Post, chains such as CVS and Walgreens are closing stores that aren’t profitable enough. In fact, Rite Aid has filed for bankruptcy.
It’s important to note that most of the stores being closed are in low-income areas. Pharmacies can be lifelines in rural or low-income areas, particularly in food deserts — areas that have limited access to healthy and affordable food. Experts worry that economic and racial health inequalities will grow worse as a result.
Pharmacists are often the most accessible health care professionals for these communities. They often recommend OTC regimens or advice for everyday ailments and referrals to health care providers when warranted.
Without the ability to consult a pharmacist, patients’ health issues will be exacerbated and prolonged.
What Is the Corporate Response?
CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid have all come out with official, corporate statements in response to their pharmacists’ walkouts.
CVS said: “[We are] engaging in a continuous two-way dialogue with our pharmacists to directly address any concerns they have. In response to recent feedback from our pharmacy teams, we’re making targeted investments to address their key concerns, including enabling teams to schedule additional support as needed, enhancing pharmacist and technician recruitment and hiring, and strengthening pharmacy technician training.”
Walgreens said: “We have taken steps over the last two years to improve pharmacists’ experience, advance the profession, and enable them to provide the high-value care they were trained to do.
”Rite Aid said, “We believe that our efforts in recent years and months to improve work/life balance and working conditions for our pharmacists is evidence of our commitment to the team.”
As confusing as the statements above are, they offer no responsibility nor apology for the current state of affairs. They also lack any solid steps that will be taken in order to provide relief to busy pharmacies and more pay to underpaid pharmacy technicians.
Walgreens, in response to the walkouts, has acknowledged the concerns raised by pharmacy staff and claimed to be making efforts to address them, including significant investments in wages and hiring bonuses. However, the success of these measures remains to be seen, and the outcome of the potential strike could reshape the landscape of the retail pharmacy industry.
What Can You Do?
The demand for better working conditions is intensifying. As pharmacy staff consider joining the walkout, the industry may witness a widespread disruption that could have a lasting impact on Walgreens and other pharmacies.
For the patient, pharmacy strikes are inconvenient but realize that these health professionals are only trying to keep you safe. In order to avoid any delay in getting your medications, here are a few tips:
Before asking the doctor to send medication to your pharmacy, give them a quick call to make sure they’re open if you need the prescription the same day.
Ask the pharmacy staff if it’s better to walk-in or make an appointment at a certain time or on a certain day when requesting a vaccine. Some times or days are less busy than others; plan on stopping by then.
Call in your refills 2-3 days before you run out of medication to ensure it will be in stock and available for pick up when you need it.
Sign up for text messages so pharmacies can easily alert you when your prescription is ready, if a refill is needed, etc.
Unless you have a pharmacist-specific medication question, ask a pharmacy technician for help. They are skilled workers that are trained to help the pharmacy run smoothly.
Be patient! Pharmacists are people too. Most work either 10- or 12-hour shifts at a time. Pharmacists love to help but might have a lot on their plate at any given moment.
Have a question? Ask if they are able to give you a call or if you can call later. Most medication questions do not need to be answered in person and they would be happy to chat when the workload decreases.
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