The theme for this year’s ASHP Mid-Year Conference is “Some Mid-Year Magic.” To celebrate the contributions and magic that our talented pharmacists and technicians bring to their patients, we are launching a new series called Moments in Pharmacy.
Today we feature Reynant Jackson, CPhT, a pharmacy technician and supervisor working at Loretto Hospital in Chicago for 17 years.
- What does being a pharmacy technician mean to you?
- Being a pharmacy technician supervisor and a buyer means that I feel a big responsibility for making sure that the pharmacy operates in a timely manner. An efficient pharmacy helps our hospital give patients the best care possible.
I love my job so much. Being part of the pharmacy team, I know that by the end of the day, we have helped our patients to feel better. It’s a privilege to share my knowledge with my coworkers and patients.
We believe in the old advice, “do it once and do it right.”
- Name one thing that’s changed the most about pharmacy operations since you began your career.
- Automation and technology are definitely the things that have changed the most since I started working 17 years ago. For instance, automated dispensing units in the pharmacy help us better manage our time and it’s much safer. Rather than sending a bunch of individual bags of medicine for each patient, the medicines can be sent upstairs in bulk. Also having dispensing units on the patient floors saves time.
- What are the biggest challenges you see in the coming 2-5 years?
- Drug costs and shortages are the biggest challenges for everyone right now. Drug costs are the first thing I would change if I had a magic wand. Shortages in drugs and supplies like sodium bicarbonate are a huge problem and are impacting patient care and pharmacy operations.
