A pharmacy technician job description can be summed up most simply as a pharmacist’s assistant. pharmacy technician perform several duties within a pharmacy that help the pharmacist and allow them to focus more on the medication aspect of their career. Pharmacy technician jobs are usually in pharmacies but there are several other places where there are jobs for pharmacy technicians. This article will cover the duties pharmacy technicians are responsible for and other aspects of the job.
There are a few different places where pharmacy technicians can work and therefore more than one pharmacy technician job description is needed. Pharmacy technicians who work in pharmacies and deal with the retail of certain medications have a variety of duties. These pharmacy technicians receive prescriptions from customers and sometimes receive prescriptions electronically from doctors. Pharmacy technicians are then responsible for filling these prescriptions. Pharmacy technicians need to count, weigh, or measure out the medication that is required by each prescription.
After that they choose the correct type of vial or bottle for that particular medication. The last part of filling the prescription is labeling the bottle with information that relates to the medication, including:
- Proper doses for the medication
- How to take the medication
- Effects the medication may have
These pharmacy technicians must also make records of the medications prescribed and file those records. Along with the medication files, pharmacy technicians also need to keep customer records that contain all of the prescriptions that have been filled for each customer. The other type of pharmacy technician job description requires pharmacy technicians who work in hospitals or assisted living facilities where medications need to be monitored.
These pharmacy technicians carry out several tasks that are the same as those who work in a pharmacy. They still have to count, measure, or weigh the medications and they may also have to keep records. However, there are duties that are specific to working in the hospitals or homes. Pharmacy technicians are sometimes responsible for producing sterile solutions and delivering the medications to the nurses, physicians, or patients. These pharmacy technicians also have to record information about the administered medications onto the patients’ profiles.
In both of these work settings, pharmacy technicians work in an environment that needs to be kept clean and organized. The work environments are both well lighted and well ventilated. In their work environments, pharmacy technicians spend the majority of their time on their feet and in some settings pharmacy technicians will be responsible for lifting and moving heavy objects. Some pharmacy technicians will work full-time and others are required to do shift-work that may involve nights, weekends, and holidays.
A different pharmacy technician job description is needed for both pharmacy technicians who work in pharmacies and for those who work in hospitals because although many of their jobs are the same, they do differ in certain ways as well. This article encompasses what a pharmacy technician has to do for those who are interested in pursuing a job as a pharmacy technician.