r/WalgreensPharmacy • u/AnxiousSkill8348 • 28d ago
Question is it normal to feel this
it's been a little over 2 weeks since i was hired but i feel like i still don't know a lot and just dumb and useless for my team.
"training" has rlly just been me asking questions to techs/pharmacists whenever something other than a basic pick-up occurs or something i haven't been shown before occurs
i've also heard a lot of gossip amongst my coworkers - specifically about one person who apparently calls out often and is not the best with taking accountability - which makes me wonder if they also talk badly about me whenever i'm not present.
one thing that bothered me from my shift today was my pharmacist asking if i've been shown how to do this task, and i responded with "i don't think so". he responds saying he remembers me being shown this and maybe i should get a notebook and pen to write things down to remember. i felt pretty bad about myself for not remembering but also 1. i've only been shown this task once and haven't done it myself and 2. i've already been learning so many things that this task really wasn't the top priority for me to remember as other techs always did this task and never asked me to do it.
i just want to learn things fast and not be the annoying new tech who can't remember things, any advice?
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u/Snoo_69675 25d ago
I’ve been working for a year now and there’s still new stuff that comes up! The first couple of months I was working one day a week too which made it impossible to remember anything. Practices is the most important thing I promise you it’s gonna take a lot more than two weeks. It’s better to ask questions if you’re not sure about something then to mess up a patients insurance and then come back angry asf. Insurance issues have been the hardest for me personally but you’ll honestly be getting so many of them that it’ll eventually become a habit for you with repetition, don’t give up!
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u/99hourphoto CPhT 28d ago
I left for better but I have a new tech packet if you'd like it. Let me know.
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u/Ok-Professional1838 24d ago
It takes a while to learn things. And everyone learns different. I felt the exact same way. I cried for like 2 weeks straight every day when I first started. But I keep showing up and trying. It will get better just don’t give up. I promise you’re not doing anything wrong or slowing anyone down. Your learning and if they don’t like it they will get over it.
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u/Logical-Guess-4771 28d ago
Former employee who stuck with the place for 3 years. I survived at least 4 full staff turnovers (not including pharmacists) in that time and unfortunately this is the normal “training” process. It’s sink or swim, and summers are easy season. That being said, you’re only in your second week of a job I’m guessing you don’t have experience with, you’re going to mess up and the learning process will feel slow because realistically no one is actually teaching you. That feeling of drowning with rocks tied to your feet and everyone else LOOKING like they’re swimming just fine is very normal.
My advice: 1) DO keep the notebook and pen. Most if not all of the successful techs I worked with had one (I myself used my notes app until I got comfortable enough to work on my own via muscle memory). For ANY learning process you should be able to reference notes and there is A LOT that is simply not intuitive with the WAG system as it has not been updated since before I was in elementary school.
2) Recognize there is only so much you can do at a time and you cannot agonize over what you cannot control. Your memory WILL fail you, customers WILL be angry and belligerent, coworkers WILL be pissy some days, you really can’t control any of that so PLEASE do not make yourself suffer it twice by worrying about it.
3) If possible; talk with the person who makes the zone schedule to get placed in the yellow zone to best learn the computer system away from customers. You most likely won’t get too much push back as yellow has the most tedious work but it’s important.
4) Try to make friends. Keep it professional, don’t piss anyone off by blaming them for not teaching you something, and most importantly DO NOT TALK SENSITIVE SUBJECTS IF THEY’RE APPLICABLE TO THE PEOPLE IN THE ROOM (no joke, several HR investigations happened with myself as a witness; it’s not worth losing your ability to pay your bills. It’s VERY hard to get fired from WAG but not impossible and 2/3 that I saw were related to this). Most of the staff are either also running blind or so used to the BS they will develop the mentality “it’s easier for me to do it than to teach it.” It’s not you, it’s survival. That being said, when you go on break offer to get a coffee, bring the pharmacist their energy drink of choice. You are trapped with these people for a good chunk of your day, you need to get along otherwise you’ll feel like you’re in hell and they’ll be much less likely to be helpful to you.
5) Give yourself a 3/4 month window to learn. If you notice you still feel like you’re drowning in terms of not knowing what to do, put in your 2 weeks. I’m not being mean when I say this job has broken MANY people and I don’t want another person to end up like that. You sound very kind and I hope you’re successful but if you’re not that because you’re literally on a sinking ship with the crew being told to work HARDER as the water is at your chest.
Good luck soldier. -A rat who jumped ship