Pharmacy Awareness Month: Why Pharmacists Make a Difference

By Azra and Sandy

We decided to become pharmacists because we wanted to help people! Pharmacy provides us with ample opportunity to be front-line health care workers. However, through our schooling and exposure to different pharmacy practice settings, we have discovered that the work pharmacists do is often behind the scenes and missed by the public. So in honor of Pharmacy Awareness Month, here are a few stories from working pharmacists in both hospital and community settings that showcase the value and role of pharmacists. It is these stories and the impacts they have that reinforce to us that we are pursuing an awesome profession. Perhaps these stories may inspire you to become a pharmacist as well!

Pharmacists are Collaborative

I have a patient who takes a high dose of an opioid medication for his spinal pain. However, he found that his current regime was not controlling his pain effectively. As a result, the physician decided to switch him to another opioid medication. Upon checking the dose, I realized that compared to his previous treatment it was too low. This would put him at a high risk for continued spinal pain as well as at risk of experiencing uncomfortable opioid withdrawal symptoms. I collaborated with the prescribing physician to work out a dose plan for our patient to address these issues. The patient really appreciated us working together to ensure that he would not have to suffer unnecessarily.

— Lanson

Pharmacists are Advocates

I had a patient who was admitted with a stroke. Unfortunately, a few days prior, he had been in the emergency department with a transient ischemic attack (a “mini stroke”) with similar symptoms and was sent home after the symptoms resolved. He was upset and felt that his initial concerns had not been addressed by the health care team. After listening to his concerns, I was able to work with the patient to reassure them that we would take his concerns seriously and put him in contact with our Stroke Coordinator and Patient Relations. At discharge, the patient reached out to let me know how much it meant to them that I listened to his concerns without judgement and worked to ensure he had a voice to be his own advocate.

— Joshua

Pharmacists are Medication Experts

A new patient came to the pharmacy with a prescription for the antibiotic Flagyl. I asked her the usual screening questions and found out that she was 8 weeks pregnant. However, this medication is not recommended in the first trimester of pregnancy! I found her a safer alternative and counseled her on non-pharmacologic measures. I caught an error that could have been responsible for pregnancy complications.

— Satya

Pharmacists are There For You

There was a client at the hospital I work at that I never really talked to for about two years. One day, I took the time to have a simple conversation with him. The next day, his mom from Victoria stopped by the dispensary to tell me how much this client appreciated all that I did for him. It was just a simple conversation but made a meaningful impact on my client!

— Trevor

Pharmacists are Accessible

I had a patient that was heavily using methadone (an opioid dependency treatment) and it honestly seemed like she was never going to get better. One day, I brought my dog to the pharmacy. My patient came in, saw my dog and absolutely lost it at how cute my dog was. For the next couple weeks, my patient would come in for her methadone but hang out longer to play with my dog. I seized the opportunity to improve our relationship, discuss her treatment and establish new goals. We made more improvement in these couple of weeks than we had in over a year. My patient ended up getting her own dog and her treatment course has improved substantially.

— Sam

Pharmacists Don’t Just Dispense Medications

A client came into the pharmacy requesting a refill for ventolin (an inhaler typically used as a chest opener to help with breathing). However, he hadn’t needed to use it for a couple of years, and based on his age and symptoms, this was a red flag to me. I sent him to the clinic to be assessed by a physician. It turns out that he was short of breath because of heart failure.

— Kurt