The Path from Pharmacy Technician to Technician Manager

Transcription

1 The Path from Pharmacy Technician to Technician Manager Paulette Visintin Pharmacy Technician Manager WRHA Victoria General Hospital Pharmacy Technician Conference 2012

2 The Path

3 The Journey Graduated from South Winnipeg Technical school in 1991 School work practicum and later employed as a Pharmacy Technician, since 1991, at Victoria General Hospital (21 years) Union representative for the Victoria hospital Pharmacy Technician staff Supportive toward the technician role expanding and changing in many ways. Being a long time advocate for pharmacy technicians and wanting acknowledgement in the pharmacy world.

4 Highlights Involved in new system implementations; Unit dose system (1992), Automed Super User Training (2007) Pyxis Super User Training (2009) Preceptor for Pharmacy Technician students Assisted in training new employees, and students (technician and pharmacist) Assisted a pharmacist in validating pharmacy technician staff to Tech/check/Tech. This enabled technicians to check unit dose, packaging, Automed processes, etc. Hospital Staff Orientation for Pharmacy gave an overview of the pharmacy technician role, responsibilities, and procedures in the pharmacy Regional Standardization in Pneumonic codes committee WRHA Pharmacy Supervisory Skills course, in 2008.

5 Major Highlight Pharmacy Technician Manager position at Victoria General Hospital 2009

6 Pharmacy and the Role of the Technician Manager WRHA Technicians report to Technician Managers The Pharmacy Technician Manager are responsible: o to ensure that the compounding, preparation and delivery of medications to patient care units meets high standards for quality and patient safety o Assumes professional responsibility for the operational management, coordination and delivery of technician services o Responsible for the selection, training, and evaluation of pharmacy technicians, students and support staff o Staffing, scheduling, and approval of hours o Occurrence Reports o New technology implemented Being a member of the Regional Drug Distribution management team. The team is working toward WRHA standardization within the role of the technician and old/new technologies implemented in the region for drug distribution. Involvement in new technology implementations Working alongside Pharmacy Regional and Site Liaison managers Technician site managers being a part of interdisciplinary management teams. Critical Drug Shortage responsibilities Hospital site committee meetings And the list goes on.

7 Regional Committees and Meetings Regional Drug Distribution Team Regional IV Working Group Regional Pharmacy IT Technology Critical Drug Shortage Regional Management Team (RMT) Regional Pyxis Nursing/Pharmacy MAPD (Manitoba Association of Pharmacy Directors)

8 Pharmacy Technician Manager role at the Victoria Hospital Site Level Addition to the regional Pharmacy Technician Manager responsibilities Attending and Participating at the site committee meetings Overseeing and providing Pyxis reports for: o Narcotic/controlled medication discrepancies (daily/weekly shared responsibility between Pharmacy Technician manager and Nursing Educator Manager) o Recording Inventory counts by Unit manager/designate o Reporting to Program Management committee of incorrect Oversight of drug distribution system maintenance (Automed, Pyxis system and medstations, packagers, IV equipment, fax machines, printers, etc.)

9 Victoria Hospital Committees and Meetings Safety Huddles for staff (Tuesday &Thursday) Staff meetings Individual drug distribution area meetings within the pharmacy Med Safety o The VGH Nursing/Pyxis committee reports Pyxis issues to Med Safety Program Management council General Management Team Occasional HICS meeting (when pertaining to Pharmacy)

10 My Technician Manager Role At The Site Regional Pharmacy Technician Manager responsibilities and committee commitments Responsible for all drug distribution areas of the pharmacy; o Purchasing/Inventory o Dispensing o Automed/Pyxis o Narcotics o IV Room o Packaging Staff of 14 technicians (scheduling, training, education, etc.) Current Critical Drug Shortage communication to pharmacy and hospital site staff (working very closely with our Site Liaison, Pharmacist s, and Purchasing/Inventory technicians) Important to help front line staff recognize their importance and value to the region, hospital site, each other, and the technician profession

11 Victoria Hospital Pharmacy Staff

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14 Skills you need as a manager: Leadership Good Listener Team Builder Motivator Ability to multi task Time Management

15 Characteristics as a Manager: Confident Organized Communicative Respectful Honest Open minded Good net worker Etc..

16 My Education WRHA Pharmacy Supervisory Skills Course WRHA Management and Leadership Development courses and conferences Various WRHA region education sessions Tech Lunch and Learn sessions WebEx on line sessions

17 Critical Drug Shortage Major workload impact on: o On technician manager o Purchasing/Inventory technicians o Site and regional staff o Regional Managers Pharmacy Short staffed Pharmacy Technician and Purchasing/Inventory daily duties drastically changed. Overloaded. Responsibility of accuracy of the communication and control of medications was very important to roll out to the hospital site Silver Lining: We all developed very strong working relationships and change in practice in all disciplines. Many standards are in development to make differences in control of expirys, quantities on hand, etc.

18 Facing the Best and Difficult of the chosen Career Path Best: Ensuring patient safety Having the opportunity to stay and manage at my site of 21 years Support and mentoring from: my site liaison (Jan Coates), Regional Drug Distribution managers (Linda Carroll & Cenzina Caligiuri), fellow Pharmacy Technician managers, site and regional staff, Being a part of the new pharmacy structure, standardization, and new technology implementations within the region Involved in gaining the acceptance and recognition of the different Pharmacy technician roles Developing new relationships with people/staff in the region, home site and other professions Gaining more education and life skills through the manager position Etc. Difficult: Budgets Scheduling Having to separate yourself from your former role as a technician/friend, to a manager Having to be accepted, all over again from your peers, and employees Juggling many issues all at once Time being an enemy; there is never enough of it Critical Drug Shortage Etc

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20 My Goals Being a part of developing and following all standards to ensure patient safety Getting through the Critical Drug Shortage (without more grey hair) Education towards the Pharmacy Technician exams and manager courses Being able to separate work and home; time management and prioritizing Happiness and stability for my staff

21 If All Else Fails..

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23 Discussion