Pharmacy technician duties, training, and career growth in healthcare

¶ … Pharmacy Technician Today

One of the realities of life in the United States today is that there are a lot more old people around, and their numbers are expected to continue to grow as the Baby Boomers continue to retire in ever-greater numbers in the years to come. In this environment, it is reasonable to assume that many Americans will continue to seek out the best values in prescription costs and service, and that jobs in the allied healthcare professions such as pharmacy technician are going to experience significant growth in the coming years. Therefore, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature to develop an appropriate background including an overview of the typical duties and responsibilities of pharmacy technicians, and what type of training and education are required for this profession. A summary of the research and salient findings are presented in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Background and Overview. The modern pharmacy is a busy and complex work environment, and pharmacy technicians must possess a wide range of communication and technical skills to be successful. Furthermore, the importance of these activities to healthcare consumers is abundantly clear. According to Bandow (2003), "Few sectors of the economy have provided more benefits to consumers than the pharmaceutical industry. More important, prices for U.S. pharmaceuticals are not excessive relative to the benefits they offer. Drugs have contributed to the sharp reduction in mortality rates from many diseases, including AIDS" (30). The most recent encyclopedic entry (2006) for the profession shows that there are a number of laws that govern pharmaceutical practice in the United States, including regulations for the practice of pharmacy, the sale of poisons, the dispensing of narcotics, and the labeling and sale of dangerous drugs (The practice of pharmacy 5).

Typical Duties and Responsibilities of Pharmacy Technicians. Many tertiary and larger healthcare facilities provide some type of incremental steps in their career paths for pharmacy technician that provide for increasing levels of responsibility and compensation (Mckelvey & Peters 144). Although every healthcare setting is unique, there are some common duties and responsibilities that many pharmacy techniques can be expected to be required to carry out as part of their daily responsibilities and these are described further in Table 1 below.

Table 1.

Typical Pharmacy Technician Activities and Required Concepts.

Activity

Required Ability

Working with staff in the dispensary by unpacking supplies received, checking stocks of drugs held on the wards, updating computer records.

Understand how drugs are managed in the hospital.

Working in out-patients in the associated non-teaching hospital in order to build up experience of working under pressure during clinic sessions. Learning how to catch up with routine tasks during quiet periods

Competence in managing a range of different activities

Working alongside experienced staff dealing directly with patients in order to observe how to communicate: using clear language, checking that each patient has understood instructions, not being patronizing, etc.

Conclusion

The research showed that, today, pharmacy technicians provide a wide range of valuable services in a critical healthcare profession. Given the increasing numbers of older people projected for the next two decades, it is reasonable to expect the healthcare industry and its allied fields will also experience comparable growth in the years to come. Furthermore, the research also showed that the pharmaceutical industry is a highly regulated and complex working environment that requires people with good communications skills and computer literacy. Finally, the review of the literature indicated that pharmaceutical technicians can acquire their training on the job or through formal instruction, or through a combination of on-the-job experience and classroom instruction.