Worried 1st time locum @ ASDA

[bleepholder]

i guess we all start somewhere....i'm guessing there was a point in time when fleegle, solomon and defblade et al. were all in your position once NWpharmacist about not knowing the computer systems and maybe feeling out of their depth at one point in their careers!!! we don't all start off as professionals and know everything about the company on day 1 of working for them!!

[NWpharmacist]

Thank you bleepholder and parent of pre reg, for understanding.

[johnep]

Yep, when I first came across mediphase at a branch of Moss, had no idea how to work it. Handwrote labels for a morning until able to 'phone another branch and discovered that f6 took you to next item and f8 finished script. After that it was plain sailing.
johnep

[Defblade]

Perhaps, if it's your first locum at a place you don't fully know, you don't fully know that it is "outside your knowledge and capabilities"? !!!Perhaps it wouldn't be "outside your knowledge and capabilities" with a bit of training on the computer system and a bit of time from the Manager who does know the system. Perhaps it's not such a bad thing to want to learn and do a good job eventually, even if you can't do one the very first time you are there as a new locum? How can we know until we have done it? How can we learn unless we try it? How can we become exceptional in more than one area unless we grow in experience? No one new can walk in knowing everything - but most people can come a long way in a little time with a bit of support. Working for the NHS is hardly an easy ride - they are terribly short staffed too. What a shame experienced locums are so very against hospital staff finding out how to do locum work in the community. Surely both sectors can learn so much from each other?

i guess we all start somewhere....i'm guessing there was a point in time when fleegle, solomon and defblade et al. were all in your position once NWpharmacist about not knowing the computer systems and maybe feeling out of their depth at one point in their careers!!! we don't all start off as professionals and know everything about the company on day 1 of working for them!!

Thank you bleepholder and parent of pre reg, for understanding.

I understand just fine, too.

What I'm not going to do is sympathise about a position you put yourself in, then came here ranting about how it wasn't right/shouldn't be allowed.

If your first post had been something more like "Blimey, I had a terrible day today. I don't want to be in that position, struggling to provide even a basic service, any ideas how I can avoid finding myself there again? Thanks in advance." then you would have had sympathy.... although the core advice would have been pretty much identical. Parent of pre-reg says "Perhaps it's not such a bad thing to want to learn and do a good job eventually, even if you can't do one the very first time you are there as a new locum?"; you say "I Would'nt waste my time learning how to use the bloody PMR systems unless i became a full time comm pharm anyway". Notice the difference in tone and approach?



BTW, parent of pre-reg:

What a shame experienced locums are so very against hospital staff finding out how to do locum work in the community.

No problem with that at all in my case. The trouble in this case however is that it appears they made no attemt to find out how to do it before starting to do it.
I notice some firmer comments regarding hospital pharmacists elsewhere on the thread (from locums? I don't know). There is no doubt that the skill sets required for the 2 jobs have diverged over at least the last 10 years or so and seem to be increasingly doing so; I would go further and say that hospital work builds much more on the degree whereas community instantly demands business and managerial skills that aren't part of a pharmacy degree at all. So much so that if you pre-reg'd in hospital rather than community, there is a very large gap to make up when trying to go from hospital to community. I feel the knowledge gap going the other way is less severe as you will be frequently going back to things that have been learnt but are now (very!) rusty; the pay differential for a basic grade is probably harder to overcome...

[NWpharmacist]

I think i came across as ranting and raving because i was so upset and shook up at what had happened that night. I was scared and wrote that original message within 1 hour of completing the locum, i just wanted to talk things through with other experienced pharmacists. I see you POV Defblade. I did learn to use the PMR at Tesco quite well, as i did a regular locum there and had support, (pehaps this spoiled me, as from everyones comments you are more likely to not have support staff, than have them?) At least I know the questions to ask in future before agreeing to a locum, i know my limitations. I think community and hospital pharmacy are both very challenaging, and have respect for both. All i seem to have done is p**s you all off! Lets draw a line under this one.

[DavidS]

All i seem to have done is p**s you all off! Lets draw a line under this one.

Well, you haven't p##sed me off, but, OK, so be it!