Staffing shortages contribute to highly stressful job environments for pharmacists, according to a report by the National Pharmacists Workforce Study, with problems including work-life balance issues and heavy workloads cited as contributing to burnout, according to Forbes.com. The 2019 survey reports that 71% of the pharmacists surveyed rated their workload level as “high” or “excessively high”, with 69% who reported working full-time in 2019 reporting that their workload had “increased” or “greatly increased” compared to the prior year. The study showed that across practice settings, the highest proportions of pharmacists rating their workload as “high” or “extremely high” were in chains (91%) and mass merchandiser (88%) pharmacy settings.
A recent study by the American Pharmacists Association and the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations showed that the top three issues associated with poor workplace conditions included inadequate staffing, metrics, and workflow design/policies. The study showed that continued staffing shortages and a lack of support staff training time, coupled with an increase in demand for prescription fulfillment has resulted in an unhealthy and sometimes unsafe work environment.
Pharmacists don’t typically gauge their success by the number of prescriptions filled but are motivated by doing fulfilling work that directly impacts patients, improving patient adherence and outcomes, resulting in improving the lives of the patients in their community.
Caught in a never-ending cycle of staffing shortages resulting in stress and overwork, pharmacies are looking for ways to improve the working environment without adding additional staff. This is where a central fill solution can serve to improve the overall work environment, leading to higher staff engagement and less stress and burnout.
A central fill solution can help to improve the pharmacy work environment by:
- Reducing the need to limit operating hours due to staffing issues
- Decreasing the amount of required overtime
- Creating a better work/life balance for staff, less stress and mental and physical fatigue
- Enabling staffing flexibility and more predictable schedules
- Allowing for better utilization of part-time staff
- Creating time to allocate resources to more meaningful, patient-centered tasks
Together these benefits can help to improve the working environment, increasing the satisfaction of staff by allowing them time for more meaningful work, practicing at the top of their license, and positively impacting patient outcomes.
Interested in learning more about how iA’s solutions can improve your work environment? Download the full whitepaper here.