Covid-19: Diary of a front-line pharmacist (1/4/20)

Hours worked: 9hrs

Meals: 1

Water: 2 cups

Toilet breaks: 0

Today was much like yesterday. I worked on paperwork while the rest of the staff handled the dispensing and customer service. There were a lot of work to catch up on, especially for the first of the month. I am grateful for the locums we were able to hire, locums who had the choice to stay home and stay safe but instead chose to join the fight on the front lines. Without their help my staff and I would not have had the luxury to focus on jobs that had been neglected for a very long time.

Today would have went off without a hitch had it not been for a customer who decided to circumvent the fifty-odd people waiting in line to be let into the store. As the customer approached the pharmacy counter my staff proceeded to serve her as per normal. It wasn't long before the mall security guard, the store's security guard as well as the store manager came to intercept her. Chaos ensued as she proceeded to verbally abuse and threaten the trio and kept trying to enter my staff's safety zone. Police were called to remove her. We were later informed of her trespass and instructed to inform her doctor to send her on to another pharmacy. For the uninitiated this is an outlier among the thousands of customers we face; for us this is an everyday occurrence that we have become accustomed to, long before Covid-19.

Better news was on the horizon. After yesterday's announcement by the government that essential services can remain open to trade on Easter Sunday, sparks of outrage rippled across the store, my department included. Staff were tired and had been looking forward to a long weekend to rest. The morning's talk with the store manager left a sour taste in my mouth. I get the hint, he was hoping we would stay open. As angry as I was, I knew he was just the messenger. Business is business but management needed to understand, they can't keep pushing the buttons of a workforce that's already on edge. Thankfully, the pharmacy's management had more sense than most. Our business manager had stood up for us and we were now in agreement that at least the pharmacy would remain closed. What a sigh of relieve, I was sure we would have had a strike on our hands.

Working on the front lines during Covid-19 sometimes feels like walking on egg shells. Emotions run high and everything can be a trigger. We continue to struggle to find a balance that will appease staff, management, the public and even the government. We are in unfamiliar territory and it's a continual battle to keep everyone safe. The most confusing element is that we don't have one unified leadership response. It feels like the people we expected to lead us are flying in blind. As a nation of a first world country we really shouldn't be struggling so hard. Everyday is a new surprise, everyday is a new problem we must solve. How are we still so behind in our response? We should be ten steps ahead by now. Yet today is still much like yesterday. A day filled with nonchalant people, out and about, bored of lockdown. Will we really have to wait for the startling figures that is sure to come in the not so distant future, before people will start to face the reality and the seriousness of the situation? The threat of lockdown extension looms over us, will we really continue the way we are?

Live. Love. Laugh. Liberate.

- Avis Knows

(This post was originally posted to Avis Knows Consulting Pharmacist.)