Hearing the phrase “we are short staffed” seems to be the norm these days in every profession including pharmacy. Is this truly a cause of the Coronavirus pandemic or were there signs this was the direction pharmacy was headed long before the pandemic started? “The great resignation” is currently being observed across all vocations in which employees are exiting their professional careers and there are not enough new graduates to fill in the gaps behind them. In healthcare, this is being seen across all boards – doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and auxiliary staff.
Currently, employee turnover rates in pharmacies are roughly 21%. One in 10 pharmacies (hospitals, chains, Specialty, independent) note a loss of 41% of their pharmacy technicians. In a National Community Pharmacist Association (NCPA) 2021 survey, 90% of respondents could not find enough Pharmacy Technicians to fully staff their pharmacies. This is a multi-faceted issue, with contributing factors including the pandemic, stress, workload, appreciation, pay, growth, and newer licensing & registration requirements. The repercussions of these shortages are vast, with pharmacy closures, reduction in pharmacy hours of operation, impacts on business (revenue and margins), increased medication errors leading to extra work to correct, inconvenience to the patients, as well as the impact on other staff members. Long-term understaffing can often create a serious disruption to the health and well-being of individuals as well as the entire pharmacy staff. Read More >>
