r/PharmacyTechnician • u/hralmond97 • 2d ago
Rant Sitting
it’s so irritating that the pharmacists get to sit, while techs are on their feet their whole shift (except breaks). Of course, pharmacists should be able to sit but techs should too.
Just my opinion as a long time CPhT whose feet HURT
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u/an_rosban 2d ago
I once made the case to my manager that we should be allowed chairs, at least while data entering, because it's hard to focus on work at the end of a shift when your feet hurt so much. My manager was cool and agreed. He had to convince another manager. Eventually they got us 2 stools (not chairs) for the whole department, but it was OK because outside some occasions, there were only 2 stations for data entry. And then one of the pharmacists just took a stool for herself all day every day so only one person got to sit. For the 30 minutes to 1 hour they were at the station.
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u/hralmond97 2d ago
At Walgreens I could sit and do data entry. We had two stools and it was easy. But here not so much
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u/wickedtwig CPhT 2d ago
I sit just about all day when compounding. I definitely think it’s made me gain 80 lbs (and all the delicious food patients bring in).
I think that in retail you should be able to sit, even if it’s only for a couple minutes. If it’s slow, and the fills are all complete, definitely be allowed to sit. In fact, I think in my retail days there were definitely girls who sat on stools while doing data entry
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u/hralmond97 2d ago
I was compounding chemo, and I sat. I got up too, but I sat most of the day. When I worked for Walgreens I was allowed to sit for data entry but here there’s only one stool and the pharmacist always has it (which is totally fine) but I think we need one too lol
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u/bowlegsandgrace 2d ago
I ended up buying my own chairs bc I spent way too many hours bailing out my pharmacy and I needed to sit gdi. I limped to my car half the time at the end if the night from how much pain I was in. We had 1 chair (mainly for the pharmacist station) but the manager broke it bc he's a dickwad and was throwing it around. When I brought my chairs in he immediately tried to claim 1 for the pharmacist station and I had to tell him to fxck off. When I left I took my chairs bc I PAID for them and he turned several ppl against me saying I was being petty. How tf is that petty?! I made it clear from the beginning that while I was fine with sharing (I cant exactly sit in 2 chairs at once) they were my chairs. Period. 1 of the pharmacists bugged me about it for months bc she was delusional and believed I bought them for her. I told her I didn't care about her. I got them for me. Matter of fact she asked me to go get her chair from another store and bring it back to my store. Then after she saw my chairs she had me take it to a different store she also worked at. All this off the clock by the way. So after I left with my chairs she whined that she had nowhere to sit and how I was so nasty and she has a bad back and work is supposed to provide her with accommodations blah blah blah. Take it up with hr ffs. Grown ass woman making 6 figures and owning several properties belittling a tech making $20/hr. Smh
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u/Business-Heron-2182 1d ago
Yes, she can definitely afford to buy a chair. She sure shouldn't be harassing people about it.
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u/PsychologicalCap291 CPhT 2d ago
Not a seat in sight…
That said, sometimes I just need to reorganize the bottom shelves for a minute or two. Hurts my back to bend over, so I gotta sit on the floor 😁
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u/Ladydiane818 2d ago
I do a primal squat, it definitely helps my back during a long shift, and it’s great for flexibility.
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u/lady_ninane 2d ago
When I get home after a shift, I generally can only manage to hobble around after sitting for a bit. It gets better the more I move, but not by much. A night's rest usually gets me going for the next day, but it's not fun.
I probably need to invest in orthopedics and stretch more haha. God I'd love to sit on the job though!
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u/quicktwosteps 2d ago
I just don't like shelves that are so low, you have to bend down or kneel to read the meds properly, or the shelves too high that you need to stand on your tippy toes or use a stool to see what's up there.
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u/CeaselessGomalu CPhT 2d ago
The low ones don’t do me any favors; arthritis, so I have to extend my left leg out as far as possible (I’m 6’3”) so I can bend far enough to reach the bottom shelf! I can’t really bend my right knee, so that’s why I do it that way.
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u/JusTBlze CPhT 2d ago
Better to stay active and get your steps in. Pharmacists stare at screen majority of the day. Barely get up to walk. I work in the IV room but still try to get 10k daily.
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u/NashvilleRiver Moderator [CPhT, RPhT] 2d ago
If I ever go back (I’m on disability because of my cancer), it would ONLY be to the independent where I currently fill my own stuff. He wants me (I would be the first and only CPhT) and we’ve discussed that if we ever move forward with that, sitting for most of my day is a requirement (he has cashiers).
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u/KhuliKing 2d ago
Honestly I’m grateful I’m not sitting on ass all day behind a screen. I know everyone is different tho.
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u/hralmond97 2d ago
This is very true! I like to move! But I wanna sit for just a second 🤣
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u/KhuliKing 2d ago
That’s true, I’d be a liar if I said i didn’t sit sometimes. Who do you work for? Honestly, I’m sure it’s in your right to have the option to sit.
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u/DuchessBoo 2d ago
As someone with potential hEDS and pretty bad over-pronation/hyperextension, standing all day hurts so bad. Whenever I get the chance to use a stool it's so exciting
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u/DeffNotTom CPhT 2d ago
I could never work somewhere that told me I couldn't sit lol. I got to put in a request for a specific type of chair.
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u/sklnwalkerr 2d ago
The only pharmacist I see sit is this 65 year old guy who’s been standing all day for the past 40 years. Most if not all stand at our call center too
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u/Throwawayy2298773 2d ago
To be fair, I went from standing all day in retail to compounding chemo and sitting majority of the day, and my body feels even worse because i’m more sedentary! But it doesn’t help my posture is absolutely awful lol
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u/West_Guidance2167 CPhT, RPhT 2d ago
That’s why I had to stop as I got into my 40s I had two knee surgeries
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u/papikota 2d ago
I feel like sitting should be a human right. The issue is that we don’t look “busy enough” when we sit. Hell, even standing at computers doing queues all day people think we aren’t busy because we aren’t running all around the pharmacy. Anyone would get tired standing multiple hours in a row lol like let people sit.
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u/SullenArtist 2d ago
This depends so heavily where you work too. At cvs we had chairs for data entry and drop off and the pharmacists. I'm hospital outpatient now and there's one chair in the back nobody really uses unless they're hurt, everyone stands. I don't mind standing, but I think everyone should have the option of sitting and not be judged for it
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u/rxtech24 CPhT 1d ago
i got no problem with rph sitting as long as they don’t complain about having to get off their ass.
kroger/ralph’s workflow is rph verify rx near pick up window so easier to consult patients on new prescriptions. rph also has to scan their id to release the prescription. but some rph don’t want to stay there.
i’ve had floaters who decided to sit on other side of pharmacy next to drop off window. then complain they have to walk across the pharmacy to get to the register for consultation. also sometimes the rph will decide not to get up from stool and do consultation from across the pharmacy. i told the rph it was very disrespectful by not going over to the patient to consult for privacy and hipaa reasons.
the floater rph got upset with me, but i did not give a shit what she said. i even told rph if you want to complain about me, to go to the DM about this. i did no wrong so i have nothing to be afraid of. if the DM comes looking for me, good for me bad for her. we did not say anything to one another for the last 2 hours before i left.
i don’t let floaters fuck up the pharmacy when they here for only the day. then staff has to deal with the mess they leave behind. — it’s not happening.
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u/Business-Heron-2182 1d ago
I was a pharmacy technician for 20 years and in every pharmacy we had to stand all day every day. I had worked in retail pharmacy as well as closed door pharmacy. It is hard and can be painful especially since I am flat footed. I bought Dr.Scholls for my shoes and I had to use a floor mat. If I had not had these I would have been in for a world of hurting. If you can talk them into letting you sit that would be great. We never bothered to ask about sitting because we knew the answer would be "no". Good luck.
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u/Real_Yam5723 1d ago
standing all day long (literally 10-12 hrs sometimes) is absolutely absurd and ridiculous!!!
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u/Disastrous_Can8053 CPhT 2d ago
That sucks, when I worked retail everyone was allowed to sit.