| What is a Pharmacy Technician?
Licensed Pharmacy Technicians help licensed pharmacist provide
medication and other health care products to patients. Pharmacy
technicians who work in retail or mail-order pharmacies usually
perform routine tasks to help prepare prescribed medication
for patients, such as counting tablets and labeling bottles.
Technicians refer any questions regarding prescriptions, drug
information, or health matters to a pharmacist. Once the prescription
is filled, technicians price and file the prescription, which
must be checked by a pharmacist before it is given to the
patient. Technicians may establish and maintain patient profiles,
prepare insurance claim forms, and stock and take inventory
of prescription and over-the-counter medications.
In hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities,
technicians have added responsibilities, including reading
patients’ charts and preparing and delivering the medicine
to patients. Technicians also assemble a 24-hour supply of
medicine for every patient. Still, the pharmacist must check
the order and the doses of medicine prepared before they are
delivered or given to patients. Also in hospitals and home
health care pharmacies, technicians prepare intravenous (IV)
packs, using sterile techniques, under the supervision of
the hospital pharmacist.
What are the working conditions for a Pharmacy
Technician?
Pharmacy Technicians work in clean, organized, well-lighted,
and well-ventilated areas. Most of the workday is spent on
their feet. They may be required to lift heavy boxes or to
use stepladders to retrieve supplies from high shelves.
Technicians work the same hours that pharmacists work. These
may include evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays, particularly
in facilities, such as hospitals and retail pharmacies, that
are open 24 hours a day. As their seniority increases, technicians
often acquire increased control over the hours they work.
There are many opportunities for part-time work in both retail
and hospital settings.
Is the Pharmacy Technician a growing career?
Good job opportunities are expected for full-time and
part-time work, especially for technicians with formal training
or previous experience. Job openings for pharmacy technicians
will result from the expansion of retail pharmacies and other
employment settings and from the need to replace workers who
transfer to other occupations or leave the work force.
Employment of pharmacy technicians is expected to grow much
faster than the average for all occupations through 2014 because
as the population grows and ages, demand for pharmaceuticals
will increase dramatically. The increased number of middle-aged
and elderly people – who use more prescription drugs
than younger people – will spur demand for technicians
in all practice settings. With advances in science, more medications
are becoming available to treat a greater number of conditions.
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