- Joined
- May 5, 2018
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I applied to an accepted an offer as a PRN Pharmacist at a Rehabilitation Hospital in Florida. I spoke with the Director a Pharmacy and they promised me verbally hours on Friday to start, then remote order entry on the weekends as time goes on. The work schedule is not in writing yet as the employer still has the background check on the drug screen to evaluate, which I feel will not be a problem. The goal of the position was to use premixed bags for IVs (including vancomycin and metronidazole), and to minimize the cost of the pharmacy by providing the medications that are on the hospital formulary (unless the patient brings a brand-name from home and they must take it for medical reasons). The starting pay is $60 per hour with two dollars per hour additional for on-call hours. The pay is not bad, but I have a lot of concerns that I do not feel comfortable sharing with my employer due to fear of retaliation.
Some additional information about the site as follows. The site finished construction at the end of October and it’s relatively new. New staff, new facility, and not very many reviews. The IV room is non-functional and the Director may remove it to cut costs next year. The Director also promised accommodations as well, but they are not in writing. The EHR system they use is called Cerner, which is through a company called OracleHealth. Because of the contract, I am an employee of PharmaCare Services and not the rehabilitation hospital itself. Employees can only apply for a position if PharmaCare Services provides written consent to an employee. It sounds very sketchy, but a job is a job. The company is based in Blanco, Texas, so that may speak volumes as to a poor culture. However, the worksite was wonderful, and I could see myself being at the facility as a full-time employee. Because of the contract I signed, I may not be able to be full-time, unless PharmaCare Services allows it in writing.
Before any judgments are made as to whether or not signing this contract was dumb, accepting this position was the only way to gain hospital experience without a pharmacy residency as all of the others require one year of long-term care, a Pharmacy practice residency, or three years in an acute care setting. Some require a residency on top of experience and others require a PGY2 as well. I am already trained in IV sterile compounding and earned a certification for it, yet I am not experienced via a job as a pharmacist. As a technician, I was. Keep in mind this is Florida, and employers are very picky about what they want. Florida is also an “at will” state and you cannot strike against employers. Texas employment laws, I heard, are much worse.
I have worked in multiple retail jobs in Florida with little success and many of them have had a poor culture, including CVSHealth (which people are calling CVSHellth and for obvious reasons), Walgreens, an independent pharmacy, and a staffing agency which had an 18 month restrictive covenant agreement for every assignment I had. The relationship with the staffing agency was terminated due to stunted career growth.
My first job was remote and performing comprehensive medication reviews, which I enjoyed, as is my current gig job. Roles like that seem to be nonexistent as only companies like Humana and Centene have roles like this. CVS and Walgreens only have remote order entry, which will pay the bills but not give me the skills needed for increasing my expertise. I am already pursuing a CDCES certification and a BCMTMS certification, which will help but may not be enough to earn full-time.
PharmaCare Services has 1.9 out of five stars on GlassDoor due to poor work life balance, and management issues. The same company was reviewed on indeed at 3.1 out of five stars. However, no reviews were on the facility I accepted the offer for.
My questions are as follows.
1. Should I see this as an opportunity to improve work culture or should I treat this as a job: get in, get out, keep my mouth shut, and seek additional training elsewhere and use the experience as a springboard towards another hospital? I cannot take another retail store; it’s too much.
2. I am also considering other states if this position does not plan out, including: Wisconsin, North Carolina, Washington, and Colorado. Should I focus on those MPJE exams while pursuing this job and not tell my employer about it?
3. What recommendations for states other than Florida should I pursue that have clinical pharmacist roles, not retail chains providing clinical services? Many employers do not perceive retail as clinical and the experience: it’s tough to justify even after two years practice experience.
4. For those who worked with Cerner before, what experiences am I in for? Could the facility switch from Cerner to EPIC without notice? If so, how would I prepare for that?
5. For those who worked with PharmaCare Services before, how do you suggest I watch my back and protect my license?
Some additional information about the site as follows. The site finished construction at the end of October and it’s relatively new. New staff, new facility, and not very many reviews. The IV room is non-functional and the Director may remove it to cut costs next year. The Director also promised accommodations as well, but they are not in writing. The EHR system they use is called Cerner, which is through a company called OracleHealth. Because of the contract, I am an employee of PharmaCare Services and not the rehabilitation hospital itself. Employees can only apply for a position if PharmaCare Services provides written consent to an employee. It sounds very sketchy, but a job is a job. The company is based in Blanco, Texas, so that may speak volumes as to a poor culture. However, the worksite was wonderful, and I could see myself being at the facility as a full-time employee. Because of the contract I signed, I may not be able to be full-time, unless PharmaCare Services allows it in writing.
Before any judgments are made as to whether or not signing this contract was dumb, accepting this position was the only way to gain hospital experience without a pharmacy residency as all of the others require one year of long-term care, a Pharmacy practice residency, or three years in an acute care setting. Some require a residency on top of experience and others require a PGY2 as well. I am already trained in IV sterile compounding and earned a certification for it, yet I am not experienced via a job as a pharmacist. As a technician, I was. Keep in mind this is Florida, and employers are very picky about what they want. Florida is also an “at will” state and you cannot strike against employers. Texas employment laws, I heard, are much worse.
I have worked in multiple retail jobs in Florida with little success and many of them have had a poor culture, including CVSHealth (which people are calling CVSHellth and for obvious reasons), Walgreens, an independent pharmacy, and a staffing agency which had an 18 month restrictive covenant agreement for every assignment I had. The relationship with the staffing agency was terminated due to stunted career growth.
My first job was remote and performing comprehensive medication reviews, which I enjoyed, as is my current gig job. Roles like that seem to be nonexistent as only companies like Humana and Centene have roles like this. CVS and Walgreens only have remote order entry, which will pay the bills but not give me the skills needed for increasing my expertise. I am already pursuing a CDCES certification and a BCMTMS certification, which will help but may not be enough to earn full-time.
PharmaCare Services has 1.9 out of five stars on GlassDoor due to poor work life balance, and management issues. The same company was reviewed on indeed at 3.1 out of five stars. However, no reviews were on the facility I accepted the offer for.
My questions are as follows.
1. Should I see this as an opportunity to improve work culture or should I treat this as a job: get in, get out, keep my mouth shut, and seek additional training elsewhere and use the experience as a springboard towards another hospital? I cannot take another retail store; it’s too much.
2. I am also considering other states if this position does not plan out, including: Wisconsin, North Carolina, Washington, and Colorado. Should I focus on those MPJE exams while pursuing this job and not tell my employer about it?
3. What recommendations for states other than Florida should I pursue that have clinical pharmacist roles, not retail chains providing clinical services? Many employers do not perceive retail as clinical and the experience: it’s tough to justify even after two years practice experience.
4. For those who worked with Cerner before, what experiences am I in for? Could the facility switch from Cerner to EPIC without notice? If so, how would I prepare for that?
5. For those who worked with PharmaCare Services before, how do you suggest I watch my back and protect my license?
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