Pharmacy Technician

The incumbent will perform duties that require a certain degree of specialized knowledge and skills in pharmaceutical work and an extensive knowledge of the routine procedures of the Inpatient Pharmacy.

• Must be knowledgeable of the more complex interpretation of medication orders and pharmacy nomenclature.
• Responsible on a daily basis for filling and delivering the unit dose medication carts to the assigned wards and the Community Living Care units. Must be able to accurately read and calculate pre-exchange dosages to be dispensed.
• Reviews, separates & returns unit dose medications as appropriate to the proper bins at the medication picking stations.
• Assist with final verification of cart fill unit dose orders (tech-check-tech) at the discretion & direction of the Lead Inpatient Pharmacy Technician.
• Operates all automated unit dose packing equipment. Must be able to perform minor repairs on the system when needed & perform daily cleaning & maintenance. Must maintain an inventory of pre-packed unit doses for stocking at unit dose picking stations. Required to generate pick lists through VistA for medication orders for the hospital wards & units
• Must be knowledgeable with the BCMA concept and understand its application within the scope of duties. Must be able to print BCMA labels and properly & accurately affix them to appropriate products received by the Inpatient Pharmacy where manufacturers' barcodes are unavailable or inadequate.
• Assembles & calculates dosages of sterile compounded medications, able to reconstitute & add the appropriate diluents or stock solutions & clean the laminar flow hoods. Prepares piggybacks, large volumes, TPNs and chemotherapy after completion of required training in accordance with USP , USP , USP and review of employee safety measures. Must strictly adhere to aseptic technique in processing all compounded sterile product orders. Delivers & appropriately stores IVs on the proper wards & units. Able to compound and/or reconstitute oral and external medications (non-sterile).
• Responsible for replenishing medication in crash carts and other emergency use kits using current medical center protocol. Will record all pertinent information on the appropriate inventory sheet.
• Able to compile a restock sheet from ADC-generated reports to assimilate stock items for daily restocking of nursing units, fills orders received from clinics/CBOCs & delivers the supplies to hospital areas. Records the quantity of dispensed stock into Automatic Replenishment in VistA for each unit/clinic/CBOC & can generate usage reports if necessary.
• Serves as an information liaison between doctors, nurses and pharmacists, relaying questions and possible solutions to appropriate individuals.
• Perform & complete assigned monthly ward inspections and automated dispensing cabinet inspections, checking for outdated drugs, IV solutions, multi-dose vial usage and any items pertaining to pharmacy. Responsible for performing & completing internal inspections for outdated drugs in the Inpatient Pharmacy as assigned. Maintains knowledge of medication storage policies and procedures and documents deficiencies found on appropriate inspection forms.
• Responsible for general pharmacy support & upkeep.
• Shares responsibility for maintaining adequate drug stock, efficient material management, maintenance of records, inventory control, and storage of pharmaceuticals. Appropriate adds and removes inventory from automated equipment and software.
• Provides support for other duties as assigned.