Americans are some of the most stressed people in the world, according to studies. Many factors can contribute to stress and at times it can be difficult to manage them. As pharmacists, we are pulled in many directions throughout the day and this coupled with our day-to-day demands can lead to a high-stress environment. In today’s blog, we will discuss stressors for pharmacists and ways we can help to mitigate them.
%
of workers in the US suffer from work-related stress
(Source: American Institute of Stress, 2021)
%
of workers say workload is the main cause of stress
(Source: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2022)
%
of pharmacists are experiencing burn-out
(Source: American Pharmacists Association (APhA), 2020)
Americans are some of the most stressed people in the world, according to studies. Many factors can contribute to stress and at times it can be difficult to manage them. As pharmacists, we are pulled in many directions throughout the day and this coupled with our day-to-day demands can lead to a high-stress environment. In today’s blog, we will discuss stressors for pharmacists and ways we can help to mitigate them.
Top Factors Leading to Stress
When discussing stressors for Americans, some of the top contributing factors include:Â
- Their job
- Finances
- Their health
- Family
- Their family’s health
As our country works to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, stress and anxiety are understandably at an all-time high. Many Americans are concerned about their jobs, finances, health, or all three.
Now for pharmacists, some of the top stressors include:
- High workloads
- Long working hours
- Staffing issues
- Dealing with difficult patients
- Managing the complexities of medication administration
Mitigating Day-to-Day Stress in the PharmacyÂ
Your staff needs more support than ever before. Helping them find ways to manage their time and stress throughout the workday will make a huge difference not only at work but at home too.
Diane Malburg, COO of the Michigan Pharmacists Association, has created time management techniques for busy pharmacy professionals. Some of her tips include:
- Track the amount of time everyday tasks take so you have an accurate idea of how much you can accomplish with your workload
- Plan out each day by prioritizing tasks based on urgency and importance
- Delegate less important and non-urgent tasks
Focusing on stress relief can also free up the energy your staff needs to care for patients and optimize their workflow. Here are a few ways you and your staff can manage stress at this time, based on recommendations by the CDC:Â
- Keep the amount of time you watch, read, or listen to news stories that may cause you to stress to a minimum, including on social media
- Eat healthy, well-balanced meals and avoid drugs and alcohol
- Get plenty of sleep and exercise regularly
- Make time to relax, if you can, with self-care activities such as connecting with friends and family or reading a book
- Talk to people you trust if you feel overwhelmed and concernedÂ
Managing Pharmacy Workflow-Induced Stress
Maximizing efficiency in your workflow can help streamline repetitive tasks, reduce distractions, and make managing stress and burnout easier.
Here are a few tools that you can implement to keep your pharmacy running efficiently and your staff stress-free:
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR). This automated system can help minimize the amount of time your staff has to spend on the phone, enabling patients to refill and transfer prescriptions and get essential pharmacy information. Â
- Secure 2-way messaging. Streamline patient communication on a secure platform that helps you send reminders, share images, and contact patients quickly and easily. With a HIPAA-compliant centralized platform, you can also view all patient conversations and send auto-populated messages.
- Automated digital marketing. A branded website and mobile app make keeping up a professional online presence simple. By automating or outsourcing marketing tasks like social media posts, ads, and newsletters, you have more time to focus on in-store patient needs.
Digital Pharmacist’s digital marketing and communication solutions can help your pharmacy manage patient care so you can minimize the pressure on your staff and keep them healthy.
Conclusion
With increasing workload demands and the feeling of less time to complete them, pharmacists are experiencing higher levels of stress in the workplace. These stressors can be mitigated through numerous techniques as well as implementing innovative technology that allows the workflow to become more efficient. By taking proactive steps to help reduce stressors, pharmacists can achieve balance in not only the working environment but at home as well.
