Pharmacy life can be stressful at the best of times. Throw in a change to the computer system and chaos can reign, as Joanne Taylor found out

At Vittoria Healthcare we have spent the past few months changing our computer system. This has meant a considerable amount of new learning and a significant amount of extra stress. Personally, I have found the implementation of a new computer system to be one of the most stressful situations a pharmacy team has to endure.

Training can be rather limited and everyday pressures do not diminish. So how do we overcome this stress? Everyone copes with stress differently, but the way that you manage it is key.

It’s vital to keep systems as tight as possible, which means:

• Maintain workflow – make sure your workflow is tweaked to perfection so that the whole team knows exactly where everything is
• Don’t take shortcuts – stick to your processes and inform patients of any delays and the reasons for them. If patients are informed they will be better prepared for a slightly longer wait. If they are aware of the issues, they are usually more sympathetic
• Keep tidy – an untidy workplace means more stress. Make sure things like scissors, counting triangles, measures, bottles and cartons are in their usual place and topped up so that you don’t waste time hunting around to find things
• Keep calm and communicate – identify any problems and deal with them promptly. Your composure will rub off on the other staff
• Set priorities and delegate as necessary so that the workflow system in your pharmacy works correctly. There are probably many other things occurring at any one time in thepharmacy, so make sure that non-urgent tasks like emails, orders to be put away, filing or paper to be shredded are left until time allows
• Enjoy your work and don’t let a very stressful time get you down; things will always get better! Tomorrow is just another day.

Joanne is a registered pharmacy technician and ACPT, and is professional standards lead at Vittoria Healthcare. She is national secretary for the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK), and is a member of the Medicines Rebalancing Programme Board at the Department of Health as well as TM’s editorial advisory panel.