Diary of a Neighborhood Pharmacist, Entry #17

At least somebody agrees with me about staffing. The rush starts at 7:00am, but they don't have two people on until 8:00am. Today I got a harangue about how, if they're going to be open all night, they should have more people on duty so they could provide better service. I agree completely. The trouble is, the records that indicate the volume of business, that help determine staffing, only cover actual sales, and you can't keep up that volume when the phone calls are coming in and there are people waiting to drop off prescriptions. So, the statistics show that nothing is happening until 8:00. Can't win.

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They say that in taking surveys, a great deal depends on how the question is phrased. A couple came to me, asking about over-the-counter remedies for nausea and vomiting. I suppose that if they'd asked, "What's available for gas pains and vomiting?" I would have recommended something for $4.99 and called it square. Instead, they told me the details – they were looking for something to relieve an elderly woman who had gas pains and vomiting for about 48 hours. The symptoms struck me as being too much like those of a heart attack – it being not well enough known that women have different symptoms from men. I said, "Look, I sincerely hope that you'll be cursing me in the morning, and wish you had never been dumb enough to ask me, but –." Then I insisted they get to an emergency room.

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