I'm Still Alive

So... How is everyone in the blogosphere? For many months now, I've completely lost my inspiration to write. However, I felt like reading through some old blog posts of mine, and I figured I'd update my eager readers about my life.

What has changed in the passed 6 months? Not a whole lot. My job is just as annoying as ever. I'm still more than frustrated with my coworkers and their amazing laziness. I still haven't been sick, while my coworkers have missed probably about 20 days during that same span.

Personal life... Still with my girlfriend. Things are going pretty well. Not too much to write about. I'm just going week by week.

Professional life... I became an immunizer, so come this fall, I'll be giving out flu shots. I hesitated to become an immunizer because I couldn't really see how it was a giant step forward for pharmacists. I mean, medical assistants can give flu shots. Giving a shot isn't exactly a huge clinical step forward.

However, I started thinking about things. Our script volume has plummetted. When I started at this store, we were doing 3,000 scripts per week. Now, we're struggling to hit 1,900. Mail order is killing us. It's gotten to the point that my company has started to lay off pharmacists. For the time being, my job is safe. I'm pretty established in my store, and I have a pretty good work record and reputation. Despite this, I figured that it couldn't hurt to make myself even more marketable.

That's where flu shots come in. Flut shots bring in a lot of profit to pharmacies. Medicare pays us a nice administration fee for each shot we give. You give a few hundred shots per period, and you really increase your gross profit. Moreover, I hate being a pharmacist that can't do what other pharmacists can do. I hated when customers came to the counter asking for a flu shot, and I had to refer them elsewhere. I hated saying, "well, some pharmacists are certified immunizers, but I'm not one of them, so you'll have to get the shot from someone else." It made me feel like a lesser pharmacist.

Finally, flu shots are actually beneficial. They prevent disease and save lives. I'd much rather be administering the flu vaccine than handing out hundreds of unnecessary Zpaks per week. I've been complaining about how I feel like this job isn't really helping people. Well, here's my opportunity to actually help people by keeping them from getting the flu. Why should I let that opportunity go to waste?

I'll try to write more often. I just haven't had the motivation lately. I've had some thoughts that I really wanted to write about, but I never got around to doing it.