Drug Topics - November 5, 2007 - (Page 26)

26 DRUG TOPICS NOVEMBER 5, 2007 www.drugtopics.com Cover Story abusive, or violent individual,” she suggested. Such a Learning how to confront system might include flagging computer records or an angry patient can keep keeping an incident log. She cautioned that any that anger from escalating such documentation must be professional and devoid into patient rage. of personal comments. “A pharmacist flagged one customer’s internal computer record with the note, ‘CrAzY!’ and ‘She’s really a psycho!’ When the note was inadvertently released, the woman sued for libel.” Generally reviewing store procedures may help prevent customer violence, according to Kalpana Parekh, executive coach, Corporate Counseling Associates, New York. “Look for any way you can streamline your procedures so as to decrease customer frustration, such as waiting time,” she said. She also suggested educating potentially abusive patients about upcoming problems before they come in to pick up their drugs. “Call the patients ahead of time to let them know you’re not going to be able to fill a script and why. Give them time to process the information.” Timothy A. Dimoff, president, SACS Consulting & Investigative Services, echoed the importance of communication to avoid potential customer abuse. “Explain to patients how long their prescriptions are going to take. And err on the side of telling them longer, rather than disappointing them.” He noted that people simply don’t have the patience today that they did 20 years ago. “There’s definitely a difference in what they’ll tolerate, and we see that in retail across the board, not only in pharmacy.” Burridge stressed the importance of making sure one’s vehicle is left parked in a well-lit area, close to the pharmacy. “The pharmacist who was stabbed had left his car in a dark alley; he didn’t even see the guy waiting for him.” DT CAPSULE Staring down the barrel If you are confronted by an armed robber, cooperate is Conklin’s first word of advice. “Give the party a certain amount of the product. It’s a commodity that can be replaced, and it’s insured. Don’t risk your life.” He added that violence usually doesn’t occur with cooperation. Conklin also would like pharmacists to become better witnesses. “Look to see if the person gets into a car, how tall he or she is, does he or she have any tattoos— things like that will help law enforcement.” If you have surveillance cameras, put up props, he added. “Hang posters so the bottom of the poster is at six feet; so if you see the person run by on the video, you can see where they line up to that poster.” People traumatized by a weapon or the shock of a robbery often make very poor witnesses, he explained. Don’t forget to report your robbery to RxPATROL. Many pharmacy robbers are nomadic, Conklin said, and tracking robbery details can help stop them. “One robber in the Midwest operated in four states and robbed 60 pharmacies before they connected the dots that it was all the same person.” With the current database, RxPATROL can spot similarities and send out alerts to law enforcement agencies across the country. Education and training With no end in sight for the upward trend in violence and abuse in the pharmacy workplace, training in personal safety, conflict resolution, and dealing with verbal abuse begs to be given higher priority. In some instances, especially where a rash of robberies has broken out, state pharmacy boards and other groups have taken up the slack. For example, Burridge said, PSSNY typically brings in trainers. “We’ve had representatives of the Drug Enforcement Administration in to do continuing education programs for our pharmacists. And the Bureau of Narcotics has done some programs.” In Washington State, where WISHA (Washington Industrial Safety & Health Act), the approved equivalent of OSHA, oversees the safety of most all but federal employees, crime prevention training must be provided to employees working anytime during the hours of 11:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M. Retraining is required annually. For hospital pharmacies, two standards from the Joint Commission’s Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals’ chapter on the “Management of the Environment of Care” (EC)—EC.1.10 and EC.2.10—require hospitals to do proactive risk assessments for safety and security and to have management plans that effectively manage the safety and security of patients, staff, and others. THE AUTHOR Workplace violence resources Pharmacy Security Check List www.rxpatrol.org/pdf/A7957-draft.pdf OSHA links to information relevant to workplace violence www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/index.html Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care & Social Service Workers www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3148/osha3148.html Violence in the Workplace: Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies (DHHS [NIOSH] Publication No. 96-100) www.cdc.gov/niosh/violcont.html is a writer based in New Hampshire. http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.rxpatrol.org/pdf/A7957-draft.pdf http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/workplaceviolence/index.html http://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3148/osha3148.html http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/violcont.html

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Drug Topics - November 5, 2007 Contents Latebreakers Latebreakers in Depth Letters Rx Care Community Practice 150 Years of American Pharmacy Hospital Practice Pharmacists at Risk Government and Law High-Density Lipoprotein New Products Advertisers Index Classified Viewpoint

Drug Topics - November 5, 2007

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