When anyone talks about Hospital pharmacists, it’s not only about dealing with medicines. It is necessary to understand the system of the hospital and dealing with the patients as a whole. It is a learning process and we tend to learn new things each and every day.
Hospital pharmacists come across different people during day to day affairs. How they deal with them is very important as it is directly linked with the reputation of the hospital. However there is no such rule or method of dealing with people visiting the pharmacy as it depends on the capacity, knowledge and behavior of the pharmacists. But polite behavior with a combo of smile adds to the persona of a pharmacist.
Below are the types of customers that pay a visit to the Hospital Pharmacy.
Regular customer: These are the one who come to purchase the old medications and know how to take them. They are probably recognizable and are easy to deal with.Just smile and provide the medicines. Have a short Outside talk in between if you have time.
Curious customer: These are over curious about their diagnosis and the medications that they need to take. They want every detailing of medicine from dose, pharmacological uses, side effects and time to take it. Be up to date. Follow the prescription while counselling and never overdo with your explanation. The less you explain the less chance of creating mistakes. Some things are hidden from the patients for effective treatment, never reveal that secret.
Emergency Patients: Topmost priority should be given to such patient. The way of reacting to emergency situation is directly related to the life and death of the patient.
Investigator: These are the one who comes just to investigate about the availability of medicines. These may also be the Medical Representatives (M.R) who come to know about the condition of their products. Help them if you are free.
Opportunists: Some of the customer see opportunity to steal the medicines and surgical items. They sometimes come in group with planning and distract the pharmacist to fulfil their desire. Be careful of these kind. Handover the medicines only after the bill is paid.
Drug abuser: Common visitors who ask for syringes or narcotic medicines. They pretend to be in serious need of the medicine. They show false prescription with stolen signature of the prescriber. While asking for the syringes, they try to fool the pharmacist by claiming it to be needed for veterinary purposes. Deal with them with care. Speak politely and pretend about the unavailability of the medicines or syringes. Unethical use of narcotics is strictly prohibited and doing it is a criminal act.
Salesman/ Exchanger: These group of customers generally bring medicines for exchange purposes. They ask the pharmacist to give some other medicines by exchanging with their medicines. They even ask for low price of their medicines. Never do this. It’s against the ethics of pharmacy profession.
Talkative: They come to buy the medicines in hurry and start talking over the mobile phone. They are unavailable for quite a time and again come back in hurry. Also, some customers start talking after giving the prescription to the pharmacist and do not listen to what he says. Ask them to be serious.
Passive: Some people come just to buy what the doctor has written. They do not know what the medicine is for, how long to take and when to take. They even do not ask about it to the pharmacist. Explain properly about the medicine and their use. It is the duty of pharmacist to make them aware of what they need to do and what not to do.
Discount crazy: This has become a culture nowadays. People ask for discount after every purchases of medicines. Discount rate may however vary with type of medication and the person who is buying it. Some people are just annoying as they start giving lecture regarding high profits in medicine business and ask for high discount.
Brand crazy: These are conscious group in one way. But some are really crazy. People often inquire whether same prescribed medicines are available or not. They do not want to change the brands. This is logical in one way as the prescribed medicines may be good: quality wise. But when this is not the case then it seems crazy. People waste their precious time wandering in search of low quality medicines as well. Duty of pharmacist is to convince them to change the brands. But one must be sure in the quality of the substituted medicines.
Self-Doctor: A person knowing something about disease and medicines act as self-Doctor. They do self-diagnosis of their illness, self-prescribe the medicines; From OTC medicines to antibiotics. This is really wrong act and we pharmacists should not promote it. The diagnosis and treating part shall be handled by authorized prescriber.
Intentionally Aggressive: Some people are really irritating, finding faults in the medicines and complaining. They come with intention to create a hill out of moll. These people should be handled with care. We should be calm and composed while dealing with such customers. Our aggressive approach will create unnecessary discussions which is not beneficial for the image of us and the pharmacy.
Economically Backward: Really, sometimes you get in a situation where a person needs lot of medicines but does not have money to pay. Some people even borrow money from relatives to cover up the medicine charges. You feel like helping but you can’t. As a pharmacist you can provide certain discount to help them buy the medicines.
Foreigners: Have you ever been in a situation where you see a foreigner and start your conversation in English but the foreigner replies in Nepali?? Common isn’t it? While dealing with foreigners we should ask them whether they know Nepali language or not? If yes than it is fine but if not we can converse in English. A sweet smile adds flavor to the conversation. They are our guests, so give priority to them so that they do not get entangled in a line of many people wanting their medicines first. This will create positive image in them about Nepali Pharmacists.
Hospital Staffs: These are the part of our hospital family.
VIP: Doctors and other high ranked officers; from hospitals or government may visit the pharmacy. They really do not have time for standing in a queue which actually does not look good. Their time is invaluable so they must be given priority. Way of conversing is important while dealing with them. Being relaxed and formal can help a bit. Nervous mind will make you commit mistakes which is embarrassing.
It is quite surprising to see people being so reckless in buying medicines. They even do not bother to hear the proper way of taking medicines. They spent lot of hours queuing for diagnosis in front of physician room but do not show patience in front of pharmacy. Why don't they understand the value of proper counselling? This has affected a lot in disease cure.
Wrongly taken medicines never help. Side effects are bound to happen and result is longevity of illness. People should understand that counselling is also an important part of getting cured. Now, with the addition of clause in the constitution of Nepal 2072 regarding the rights to be aware about the medicines, a patient takes for cure, we hope that more emphasis for counselling will be given in future.
By : Bijay Koirala, Pharmacist at Norvic Int. Hospital