4 Essential Points to Hire the Pharmacy Technician
As the duties of pharmacists expand into directly caring for patients, the need for efficient pharmacy technicians to help pharmacists is on the increase. Studies have revealed that some pharmacy technicians are not sufficiently trained to carry out their tasks in the pharmacy.
Having an efficient pharmacy technician to help is pertinent and is unavoidable if you are active and willing to accommodate more patients. It will also allow your customers to be more confident in getting the right medication.
Who Is a Pharmacy Technician?
A pharmacy technician is a person designated to assist a pharmacist in the pharmacy. These techs help pharmacists attend and care for customers. By doing this, they ease the burdens of the latter.
It's important to have a technician handle some cases in the pharmacy. These technicians run the pharmacy whether the pharmacist is available or not. They learn the basic knowledge of drug brands and dispensing. With this knowledge, they are great assets, be it of a hospital pharmacy or a street retail drug store.
What Do They Do?
Pharmacy technicians are an important facet of the health industry. They have a strong passion for helping people. They play many important roles, including:
- screening prescription orders
- dispensing prescribed medication and medical devices
- keeping an accurate inventory of stocked medications and medical devices
They are crucial to the smooth operation of pharmacies. Whoever is in charge of hiring for this important position must watch out for some things. We'll discuss some of these points in the course of this article.
Based on their place of work, the work of pharmacy technicians may differ. For example, the pharm tech working in a hospital pharmacy has a different job from one at a retail drug store. Likewise, a technician at a wholesale pharmacy may have different tasks from one at a retail drug store.
Pharmacy technicians deserve good pay like every profession in the health sector. They are also quite helpful when you have them around. Yet, you have to be quite mindful of the pharmacy technician you hire.
Essential Factors To Consider Before Hiring a Pharmacy Technician
There are important factors to check before a pharmacy technician can start working. You must make sure that the technician you hire is qualified for the job. If you wonder which boxes to tick while interviewing, read on to learn the necessary criteria. These points highlighted below will help out.
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Are They Certified Pharmacy Technicians?
This is an essential criterion you should never miss out on of all points to consider. Applicants must have a certificate to show that they are licensed technicians. This is to ensure that the pharmacy technician knows what they are doing.
You also have to make sure that it was granted by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB). The certificate issued by the board shows that the technician has undergone the specific training needed to be tagged a technician.
Asking for a PTCB certificate ensures the capability of your pharm tech. It’s because they have to first take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam (PTCE) and pass all the PTCB tests before getting one.
Registered pharm techs put a lot of work into passing. They had to take a lot of pharmacy technician practice tests and review well to pass. This takes a lot of effort and motivation.
The time it'll take a technician to be PTCB-certified depends on previous certificates. It might also depend on the institution. For example, some schools' pharmacy technician certificate courses run for six months. Others may run for two years. The goal is that the supposed tech can pass the PTCB test to get a certification paper.
Do They Have Good Interpersonal Skills?
A certification from PTCB to prove competence as a pharma tech is pertinent. Also, gaining interpersonal skills to boost competence as a technician is necessary. Finally, a good pharm tech must have an excellent rapport with pharmacy customers.
The pharm tech is in constant communication with people. Having to communicate easily with these people is a huge plus. That is because good communication skills improve interpersonal relationships. An excellent interpersonal relationship helps the pharmacy keep customers.
People will be more comfortable and relate better with an empathetic attendant. A pharm tech with this advantage is sought after. Some PTCB practice study guides have lessons to help improve the communication skills of pharmacy technicians.
Do They Have Excellent Technical Skills?
Having technical skills as a pharmacy technician is a priority. These skills include computer skills, good mathematical ability, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. For example, a good knowledge of math will help the technician dispense the right amount of drugs. Math is also relevant with inventory control, ordering, stocking, and packaging the drugs.
Working with a computer is vital to help technicians put the client's details or drugs into the system. So, being proficient with computer software is an essential need.
A technician designated with keeping prescriptions and the records of the pharmacy. Record-keeping is a necessary skill considered before hiring a technician in a pharmacy. Also, the technician must be able to think and solve problems that arise in the pharmacy.
Customers expect solutions from whoever attends to them, pharmacists or not. So, most people prefer a detail-oriented technician who can care for minor issues.
Do They Have a Sound Understanding of Drugs and Medical Terms?
Pharm tech's basics include a primary knowledge of medical terminologies, drug actions, brands, etc. With this knowledge, the technicians should be able to substitute the pharmacists in their absence. Also, they should be able to sort out medical requests of patients who come into the pharmacy.
Pharm techs should know the different drug brands and the right amounts. For example, some brands have a preferred mode of action and disadvantage to other brands. Technicians should be aware of these distinctions.
Do Your Homework
As an employer hoping to get the best fit, there are two important points to note.
Ensure Targeted Advertising
You should know that most technicians follow up on pharma news and trends. So, you'll find good prospects by making a request in professional organizations. Otherwise, you can put out the word in their related newsletters.
Don't Skip the Background Check
A quick background check might surprise you, but it pays to look deeper. It might not be best to reject a prospective pharmacy technician because of a checkered past. Yet, it never hurts to know what you're going to be dealing with.
Conclusion
You should thoroughly research your pharm tech before you make your selection. Although PTCB certifications are essential, a technician with great interpersonal skills is an awesome choice. In general, hiring a pharmacy technician should be less taxing if you gauge their abilities with the qualities above.