[ad_1]
- Jennalynn Fung, 19, is a pharmacy student who works at a Walgreens in New York City.
- She says her location has been swamped between distributing COVID and flu shots and filling regular prescriptions.
- Despite being on the front line, Fung says she rarely feels respected by patients or treated like a healthcare worker.
I started working at Walgreens during the spring semester of my freshman year in New York City. As a pharmacy student, I wanted to start working to develop my skills and understanding of medicine in a practical setting.
My first few months at a Queens Walgreens were stressful to say the least – I was hired in March 2020, when the pandemic started to take hold. New York quickly became the center of the epidemic, but barely hired I didn’t want to leave.
Jennalynn Fung, 19, is a pharmacy student in New York City.
Jennalynn Fung
When the vaccines were approved for emergency use, our responsibilities doubled, but the size of our staff remained the same.
During most shifts, we only had one pharmacist available, which often meant there were only one or two vaccinators. At this point, we were just trying to keep up with the workflow.
Eventually I moved to a pharmacy in another neighborhood, but it was also understaffed. We spent the whole day trying to do everything, with little leeway to provide attentive, patient-centered care as we normally would.
Now, most of the people who come for the Pfizer recall are anxious to get it.
One patient, a woman born in the early 1940s, told me that she remembered getting the polio vaccine as a teenager. As a result, she had never contracted the disease and believed the COVID vaccine would give her the same protection. Another older man suffering from
heart disease
said that for him the third hit was necessary for his own peace of mind.
We also received patients under 65 with health problems for the third dose. A young high school teacher who was immunocompromised said that the moment she heard the Pfizer recall was approved, she wanted it. Schools in New York City closed in September due to outbreaks, so she felt she was at high risk of contracting the virus. Since the recall is voluntary at the moment, most people who request it were relieved – and even excited – to get it.
The long hours and the lack of available pharmacists mean that we are all working back to back.
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine.
Jennalynn Fung
We administer vaccines throughout the day and follow the constant flow of prescriptions from local clinics and hospitals. Since flu shots are also offered without an appointment, there are long lines of people waiting for different shots. This is especially difficult for a single vaccinator who has to know who is getting which vaccine and which version (influenza vaccines for babies, children and adults, and the elderly).
Despite what we do, we are seldom respected as healthcare workers.
Staff pharmacists routinely arrived at 6 a.m. and stayed until 9 p.m. throughout the pandemic. If there had been one more technician or pharmacist in each store, things might be different – we would be able to catch our breath and think more deeply about the health of our patients.
Walgreens’ own treatment made me feel like they didn’t like me as a pharmacy worker. Many days I dread going into work – every shift is exhausting, from rude patients to the constant influx of prescriptions. I keep asking myself: why am I studying for six long years to be a pharmacist if people are going to treat me with disrespect?
With the booster shots, Walgreens didn’t improve – in many ways, it’s worse.
Just over a month ago, on a Sunday, a family of six showed up for their flu shot. There was already a line of six elderly and immunocompromised patients awaiting the COVID booster. The queue kept growing: some people were picking up their medications, others asking for refills. The phone calls never ended.
The worst part was that it was only me and the staff pharmacist working that day. We did not close on time that evening, but in order to respect the hourly budgets, my pharmacist told me that I could leave and that she would stay. She spent another hour scanning vaccine forms, filling out other prescriptions, and cleaning up.
Lack of staff endangers patient safety. A “WAG Justice” note was circulating in Walgreens emails about a walkout – this was back when pharmacists themselves were doing up to 100 vaccinations a day.
In pharmacy school, I learned how a pharmacist’s knowledge of drugs is crucial and indispensable for public health. For this reason, I hope that people will continue to get vaccinated – and that the treatment of pharmacists who administer the vaccines will improve.
[ad_2]
Source link