Although you don’t operate within a retail environment, as a hospital pharmacy technician, you still provide “customer service.” Unlike retail pharmacy technicians, who serve patients directly, your immediate “customers” are actually the members of the hospital’s medical team: the nurses and doctors whose prescription and medication requests you fulfill every day.
Your strong organizational skills keep the hospital pharmacy running smoothly on the back end. But your helpfulness and problem-solving skills ensure a strong working partnership with the medical staff members you serve. Following are three important tips for providing highly valued service to the nurses and doctors you work with every day:
- Build strong relationships. As a hospital pharmacy technician, you need the ability to work effectively as part of a fast-paced clinical care team. Consciously seek to build strong relationships with the pharmacists, doctors, and nurses you serve; this supports a strong team dynamic, which builds trust in your role as a valuable hospital staff member.
- Be a problem solver. You will often be counted on to help smooth out kinks in the hospital workflow. Be the one to help resolve issues in the process of delivering medications to patients, such as a missing or delayed order. As the pharmacy team member who works most closely with nurses and others on the medical team, you’re the “person on the ground” who is closest to solutions. Being able to solve problems independently of the pharmacist, who may often be unavailable, expands your ability to do your job effectively.
- Diffuse conflict. In a busy, potentially high-stress environment, always remember that you’re part of a team of people who all have the same goal. In the event of errors or oversights, always be professional and communicate kindly with your coworkers. Seek to diffuse tension and redirect focus to completing the task at hand in a positive way that moves everyone forward.
To learn more about how to enhance your role as a hospital pharmacy technician, download our handbook.
