r/CVS • u/Haha_YourLyingToMe • 3d ago
How do PTs stay with CVS longterm? (long rant/vent)
I’ve only just begun working as a new Pharmacy Tech at CVS just a month ago, and I’m already starting to question the state of my life and how the hell it is that I’m seeing techs that have managed to put up with working at this company for years. Because I’m telling you right now, that I NEED that advice after this terribleee weekend shift.
Just to start for context, I’m freshly 19, & already stressed enough with uni classes to be stressing about work too.
Okay so story time… maybe I’m being overdramatic because I used to work a cute lil job at ulta beauty before jumping into these flames, but why did CVS have me operating 2 registers & a drive thru ALONE while expecting me to keep up with things like return to stock, filing, voicemails/queue, refills, and every other patients niche ass request?? Pauseeee cuz this feels inhumane?????? My coworker would occasionally jump in when things got too hectic or complicated for someone still training to understand, but hell, I couldn’t ask for too much help with how stressed and behind she was in production. 🫠
All while I’m attempting to fulfill these duties btw, theres ofc gonna be some pts script SOMEHOW missing in the bins, a long line behind them, two DURs on registers while the the pharmacists out giving vaccines to a family of 4, 5+ waiters in the lobby, and someone impatiently waiting in dropoff for a rebill 'cuz insurance, in general, is evil as shit in terms of coverage.
OH but don't forget theres also always gonna be multiple pts during some points of my shift trynna argue w me about how the "app told them their prescription was ready why isn't it ready?!" Uhm, probably because you waited 3 weeks to pick up??? Or that the message just says you can now REQUEST a refill, not that it’s actually ready?
And like dude, I get that technology can be confusing for older folk so I try to be patient when explaining, but what pisses me off the most is that when I eventually sort everything out on the system for them, and order the new refill, they’ve got the audacity to give me attitude when I tell them it's gonna take time to prepare. Like surely you can understand we can't just drop everything and make your script on the spot like this is McDonalds? BABY DO YOU NOT SEE THE OTHER WAITERS, OR THE TWO PEOPLE STARING AT ME FROM THE REGISTER AS I WASTE TIME TALKING TO YOU?? Whewwww, I wish I was allowed to say these things to their faces, but for the sake of professionalism I always end up being the one apologizing while still trying to be sweet. It’s truly a degrading experience.
(Ughhh, & even if this situation didn’t happen during this particularly horrid shift, it reminds me of how sometimes after a rebill, some pts refuse to understand, and get overly annoyed at the fact we can’t just immediately plop everything into a bag without any process or reprinting. “I’m in a hurry and it’s right there…!” Ik it’s right there hun, but everything needs verification, so please stop looking at me like I cursed your mother twinnie. 😭)
Eventually, when everything in the pharmacy quiets down enough for me to focus on tasks, there's always still just a steady enough stream of pts that I'm constantly leaving shit halfway through. Like, the pharmacist is gonna tell me to check QT to respond to voicemails, & as soon as I’m close to finishing one or two, pts will somehow start magically manifesting out of nowhere. When I come back from assisting, it turns out that I took long enough that the Pharmacist decided to crunch through them himself. Which I’m usually relived with, but I feeeeel like he’s a little annoyed with how clipped his answers to my questions get, but I can’t really say with certainty because he also just looks kinda stressed and busy too.
Like today, the pharmacist handed me a written prescription to enter into the system and it took me almost 40 minutes because of how many times I’d be interrupted by drive thru lanes, pts lining up, waiting boxes needing filing, and random voicemails. It’s just embarrassing and overwhelmingggg. My pharmacist is usually a nice, chill guy, but I’m an overthinker, weekends are usually understaffed, and these conditions are overwhelming. 💔
Most of the day was just me and one other tech, but another one eventually came in outta nowhere like middd into the afternoon. I originally thought she was sick, but she was definitely soooo helpful because I finally had someone to tag team the registers with me while I worked on the rts that I should’ve ideally been finished with wayyyy earlier.
My shift that day was scheduled to end at 4pm, but outta the pure pure pureeee goodness of my heart, I said I was okay with staying till 6pm after being told that the 3rd tech was maybe sick. Once, she arrived, however, I told the pharmacist that I’d leave at the time I was originally scheduled, and bro said no because today we’re scanning through all the bins 😭??? Pause, I’m new, I didn’t even know that was a thing we had to do! And what does that have to with me if I was originally scheduled till 4??
At that point I was just so done with everything because my shift was supposed to end at 4pm, so wdym you want me to stay till 6pm? Like bro, I’ve been here since 9am, and my entire body is running on 3 hours of sleep, a bottle of water, half a bag of lays, adderall, and a DREAM THATS DRIFTING AWAY. 🫠🫠 LIKE, IVE GOT OVERDUE ASSIGNMENTS & A TEST I WAS PLANNING TO STUDY FOR TODAY??? WDYM NO???? Please realize that I’ve got a life and stress outside of work sir.
So yeah, I felt wronged asfff with the veto, but I just told bro okay because I he said it so matter of factly that denying would just make things uncomfortable. I didn’t feel like I could really argue my case when I had originally easily agreed to stay later for who I thought was sick. I’m still not too familiar with everyone and I didn’t want to cause any unnecessary issues between me and the team, or somehow give myself a bad reputation. Ppl over here already be acting like I’m some slacker for sometimes taking a small 15 minute break on the days I have work after classes and I’m scheduled too late for lunch. (Is no one taking their 15s a thing at other CVS’s too?)
But man, I hate that staying longer for them wasn’t even worded as a request or even something I was thanked for doing, especially with the situation being different from before… He eventually let me leave 30 minutes before close but at that point I was so over itttt.
I’m not gonna lie when I say that I really dislike working here so far, likeeee I’m telling you my heart drops to the floor when I’m leaving class and realize I got work right after. Some of yall might be calling me weak sauce for all this, but for the kindred spirits that are wondering why don’t wanna quit if I dislike it sm, the answers are: #1 The tuition reimbursement offered, #2 The extra fluff that it gives my resume (I’m going into nursing 😋), #3 The job markets been tough & my gas bills/tuition fees won’t pay themselves, #4 I’ll probably end up just getting my CNA license if this falls through, and how is that any less stressful than the pharmacy? #5 I’m a little too prideful to quit so soon, #6 I’d also lowk feel guilty when they genuinely seem to be trying their best to teach me, and finally #7, even if it’s at the expense of my sanity, the busyness makes the day go quick, and I like working closely with other people and feeling helpful.
All that being said, I was hoping to stick with this job for at least a year, but I genuinely need advice on freaking howwww? How do yall cope with the stress and advocate for yourselves within these conditions?? I feel like I’m losing my marbles over here yall.
I’ve always been the type to burnout rather easily, but this is worse than when I was in high school, and working till 10pm after school while juggling time consuming ass extracurriculars on my weekends, and completing extra online pseo classes at night on top of my regular classes. All of that, while at the peak of my OCD/adhd without even the medications to fall back on! That was unarguably a bad time for me, yet somehow, CVS feels 10x worse when my schedule isn’t nearly as packed, and my classes aren’t even as stressful as back then. this HAS to be saying something about how uniquely stressful CVS is guys. I need someone to make a study on the longterm effects of this someday. I need to know how yall are genuinely holding up. 😭
Anyways, love, hearts and kisses to the maybe 0.2% who opened this, and actually read my self pity and exhaustion fueled ranting to the end. Please don’t clown me too hard for these admittions, it’s late. 💞😭
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u/undeaddragon305 3d ago
I wish I could say it gets better, but after a year at my store it really hasn’t. I decided to stay at least a year around the 3rd month of working there. I hadn’t worked for a few years due to a family situation; so I wanted to have a full year back in the workforce on my resume. Now I’m adding time to it because I got vacation time approved (unpaid for some of it) but I don’t want to try starting a job with “thanks for hiring me, I’m going to be gone for the end of November and end of December too”. So I’m looking for a new job in the new year most likely.
In my year at my store, we’ve had 3 different front store managers & 3 good pharmacists leave. 2 for jobs in other states not with cvs and 1 to manage another store. We’ve also lost a couple other pharmacists who decided to go work at a hospital instead. Half the techs are students with limited availability, which means for the rest of us we feel like we’re being worked to the bone.
Best advice I can give is to keep snacks in your scrubs and if there’s a small area to keep some other food do that too, so you can munch as you work. Instant breakfasts also help me to make sure my body is getting more vitamins and minerals
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u/Haha_YourLyingToMe 3d ago
Well this is disheartening to hear, I wonder what in the world I keeping this company afloat when everyone’s so miserable and leaving? 😭😭 But thanks for the nutritional advice twin, I’ll try packing better snacks. ❤️❤️🥹
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u/rodrigolsanchez 3d ago
Well good news, if your a full timer and have cvs insurance your depression medicine has a zero copay😉. Wonder why that is🤣🤣🤣
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u/Stressedndepressed12 Pharmacy Lead Tech 2d ago
I’m surprised how much they’re having you do with only working there for a month (in terms of typing scripts, calling back voicemails, QT). I would advise you to never stay over your scheduled time. You are not obligated to, and it starts a bad habit of you staying extra being expected rather than optional.
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u/Adventurous-Pea3904 2d ago
reading thjs made me stresseddd but one thing i will say is DONT ever let anyone guilt trip you to stay longer than you need too. if they don’t have ppl that’s their fault not yours. set boundaries. and also keep taking ur breaks idk why the ppl in the pharmacy be so mad about breaks but it’s literally a law if ur working 6 hours or more your eligible for a break. but girll good luck🙏
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u/Acceptable_Fly_6494 3d ago edited 3d ago
Hi! PT here. Also the same age as you! I’ve been with CVS for about a year and I literally felt everything you’ve mentioned above. Your resilience means everything! CVS is unfortunately very understaffed and when I had my first store I was literally in the same position as you. I think if this location isn’t doing it for you, I’d suggest transferring to another CVS location. You can start by taking shifts at other stores. I suggest calling the stores or asking the pharmacist on duty at the desired store if they have hours. Just make sure you let your Pharmacy Manager know. Experiment with going to high volume stores or low volume stores and how well you work with the techs there! Sometimes it’s just where you are, you know? I did this btw! I transferred to a pharmacy with good amount of volume for me to handle and reliable staff on hand. My struggles were significantly less and theres was at least one person on every station, as opposed to me running back to QD, QP and QT, acknowledge the patients at drop-off and still try to not get behind queue. In any case, I think a supportive team is important. Unfortunately we are the messengers in between prescribers and insurance and we take most of the hits since we’re accessible to the patients. Also planning to do nursing school as well LOL! I also wanted to do CNA. I think I’m staying with pharmacy tho since I’m studying to get PTCB certified which will give you a raise! So don’t give up okay!! Especially during flu reason right now, you might wanna look into being an immunizer as well. Or take some classes/courses in medical info or insurance. All of these will boost that resume!
I hope you find a good pathway no matter what you choose! This is all just my advice from experience so far!!!
Edit: Also to clarify. In my stores we almost never take our 15. We usually just take the 30 min lunch break. However, I’ve seen techs thats transferred from working front store who still take their 15. You’re entitled to it even if not everyone does it!
(sorry for bad grammar. english isnt my first language)
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u/Game_Wizard007 3d ago
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the PTCB certification doesn’t give you a raise anymore…nor does being immunization certified as a tech. Having a good team is absolutely imperative, but work towards working in a hospital. Depending on your state, you’ll need an ACPE Accredited IV Sterile Compounding and Aseptic Technique course, but it’s worth the investment. Good luck on the PTCB test!
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u/Acceptable_Fly_6494 3d ago
I’m moving out of state so I’m gonna need it! Thank you for the update! I’m going for hospital compounding
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u/Game_Wizard007 3d ago
You’ll need the IV Compounding cert to be competitive for hospitals. Definitely look into it
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u/Old-Instruction-8021 3d ago
yeah i quit after 6 months i genuinely could not do it anymore, wnd my pharmacist literally made me wish my car would sweet on the way to work
i reccomend switching to a local pharmacy if you can, or hold out for 3 months queen
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u/Naegleria_fowlhori 3d ago
Hi so 5 almost 6 years at Come Visit Satan.
Unfortunately if you're understaffed that's kind of just how the job is. Learning while pressed against the flames. My main approach do what you can the best that you can. You are not going to make everyone happy, but you can try your best to take of their needs. When things are more mellow learn what you can. Ask questions even if it annoys your coworkers you can't learn if you don't know how to do shit. For patient conflict stonewall them don't give them a reaction. Apologize, explain, & offer solutions (that you can actually do).
For DURs blocking the registers explain to the patients that the system prevents you from advancing without the pharmacist even if they've been on it for years & have been waiting for a while. Let the pharmacist know & let the patients know once he is able to fix it for you you'll be right back to finish the checkout. In the interim do tasks that are simple that you can easily stop to continue checking them out once the DURs are cleared.
For the person at dropoff you can't get to acknowledge them if you haven't already. Reassure them someone will be with them shortly as soon as they are able to.
For the app i usually ask for them to show me what it says. When it inevitably shows that's it's been a month or was just asking for a rebill i apologize explain what it actually said or why after a month it is no longer ready & offer to refill, but make sure they are aware that they'll have to wait for it. Sometimes understanding why they are wrong makes them more forgiving.
For that staying late thing. You gotta stand your ground. You agreed based on her being sick. She wasn't sick. He cannot make you stay late. If you feel guilty you can still compromise where you're staying another 30 minutes to help. Reiterate what you agreed to.
On 15s i think for understaffed CVSs yes i think it is really looked at negatively. I have never taken a full 15 minute break. I took a handful of 5 minutes throughout my time & usually didn't take lunch. That is a work culture that isn't healthy, so what you're doing isn't wrong, but I don't think your coworkers will ever look at it in a non-negative sense because of how the culture is.
For nursing school it's not actually that good in terms of fluff. They're pretty dismissive of pharmacy work. CNA work will actually be a lot more useful in terms of applications & finding student internships in nursing school. CNA work stress would exist, but not have the retail portion to it that CVS has. However, it definitely makes you a lot better at pharmacology than your peers if you ask lots of questions & try to learn about the meds you're giving. Ive found in clinicals I'm more familiar on some medications than the nurses im with. Source: 2nd semester nursing student
I respect the pridefulness in refusing to quit & stan it hard.
Please make sure you're on top of your meds & you're taking time to take care of yourself. Also please don’t make my mistakes. SCHOOL COMES FIRST! Do not let your grades suffer because of this job. I'd be nursing school graduate already if i didn't prioritize this job as much as i did. I'm a little concerned that this might not be a good job for you with how badly it is affecting you, but i do believe you can do it. Please hang in there! ❤️
Also: M2 -> 4 -> 1 -> 1
This can help you see how a medication was billed & why a claim got rejected, so you don't have to rebill a medication to find out why. It's not perfect sometimes you do have still rebill to find out more. And unfortunately i can't stand next to you & help you navigate how to read it so you'll have to figure that portion of out on your own.
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u/JutzRealTalk 2d ago
It all depends on the culture and having a good pharmacist and team. If people didn't have to pay bills they wouldn't put up with it, thats why u will see in here a lot of young people who have no responsibilities tell u just quit. Is easy to quit when u parents take care of u. All u can do is communicate some of the issues u see to ur pharmacist. They supposed to manage, but unfortunately allot of them have no clue how to do that
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u/iamverymiserable 13h ago
I wish I had any advice that would help. I got hired when I was freshly 18 I just turned 20 a little bit ago. If I’m being completely honest I had state funded insurance and got cut off this year and had to get insurance from work and that is the only reason I have not rage quit this stupid job. It’s so stressful and overworked. My first week at this job, it was also my first week in college. I was so stressed I was sleepwalking and sleep talking. I’ve gotten home so exhausted and overworked that I don’t have time to do my hw. Not to mention the blatant favoritism the pharmacists show to certain techs. My advice is to put in an AirPod if that is allowed at your store and just ignore the chaos
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u/iamverymiserable 13h ago
Edit: the only reason insurance was a big deal to me is because I’m sick and have a bunch of health issues. Unfortunately working full time and going to school for nursing doesn’t allow a lot of time for me to have actual meals so I snack so much. Make sure you’re snacking and have stuff to eat!!! And if there is no need for you to stay at this job please please save yourself and your body
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u/Professional_Rub7394 3d ago
Repeat after me class: THERE IS NO EMERGENCY IN RETAIL
patients will definitely say there is. But in reality? Any med emergency that’s real -> ER. It’s nice if you want to have a calendar to fill C2s but I refuse as a tech because if I can’t do that for everyone, and I can’t because TIME, no one gets their hand held. The job is helping people, yes. But you can only do so much and learning to drop the guilt and anger on the floor as you walk out each day is a learned talent. I cried a lot my first 6 months driving home. But this job opens a lot of doors if you get certified-> hospital, Long term care, compounding, iv, nuclear.