Filling A Prescription Essay

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Have you ever waited in a pharmacy for your prescription and wondered, why pouring some pills into a bottle take so long? I know I have, and until recently, I didn't understand the lengthy process that goes into filling a medication. I have been a pharmacy technician for a year now, and I am constantly nagged by impatient customers who all want to get out in a hurry with their meds. What they don’t realize is there are a few steps that go into filling a prescription. Those steps include: drop off, filling, and visual verification. I hope by explaining the procedures of filling a prescription I can make some people understand why they have to wait so long, and maybe they won’t take out their frustrations on me. Drop off is the most difficult…show more content…
I carry around a scanner that assigns prescriptions to me that need to be filled. First, I scan an empty bag that I will use to put my completed prescriptions in. The scanner tells me what medication I need, and how much of it. Upon finding the correct bottle of medication, I scan the barcode on the bottle with the scanner; the scanner can tell if I am scanning the correct bottle or not. Once I have made the right selection, I print out a prescription label. I then dump out the pills onto a tray and use a small spatula to count out the correct quantity. I always count out pills in fives; it is the most efficient way, because most prescriptions are a quantity devisable by five. I always double count prescriptions to ensure the patient is getting the correct amount. If I am counting a controlled substance, I must also back count our stock bottles, make sure that our inventory matches what I have filled, and record it in a written log. This prevents internal theft and dishonest patients from saying they did not get enough. Lastly, when I have completed all of those steps, I can find a bottle big enough to fit all of the pills. I put the pills in the bottle and stick on the prescription label. Now that the prescription is filled it can go to the final step of visual

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