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Researchers explore factors influencing pharmacists' willingness to provide medication takeback services, highlighting the need for improved disposal practices and education.

Multifaceted Approach Is Necessary for Pharmacist-Led Medication Takeback 

Community pharmacists embrace mental health interventions to combat depression and anxiety in long-term condition patients, enhancing overall care and accessibility.

Pharmacists Welcome Mental Health Interventions for Long-Term Condition Patients

Laura is the vice president of content of Drug Topics

 since 2022 and has been with the publication's parent company, MJH Life Sciences

, since 2011. She has an MA in business and economic reporting from New York University.

The 2024-2025 updated COVID-19 vaccine containing the Omicron JN.1 lineage did not increase the risk of 29 adverse events of special interest. 

Updated COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine Did Not Increase Risk for Adverse Events

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With expertise into the growing issue of pharmacy deserts, Michael Murphy, PharmD, MBA, discussed exactly what patients are losing when their community no longer has pharmacy access.

Pharmacy Closures Limiting Access to Preventative Patient Care

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 This is Over the Counter, a podcast from 

. I'm Gabrielle Ientile. In this episode we'll be talking about professional burnout in the pharmacy, the many factors that lead to and intensify burnout, and what impact the COVID-19 pandemic might be having on rates of pharmacist burnout.

What is professional burnout? Experts generally define burnout from 3 aspects: 1, physical and emotional exhaustion; 2, depersonalization; and 3, one’s sense of autonomy and personal accomplishment.

 It's typically measured along those lines and individuals who are feeling a lot of exhaustion and a lot of disengagement tend to have higher burnout scores.

 That's Caroline Gaither, a professor in the department of pharmaceutical care and health systems at University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Dr. Gaither is coauthor of a national survey of pharmacist burnout and engagement, which was presented at the Midwest Pharmacists Workforce Consortium. Here's Dr. Gaither again to explain the results of that survey.

 They're telling you that the workloads have gotten higher and the staffing has decreased, and that has increased their feeling of job stress and also influence their satisfaction levels. So that has been another thing that we think has also contributed to some of these levels of exhaustion we've seen with the workforce study.

 Jon Schommer, a study coauthor and a professor in the department of pharmaceutical care and health systems at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, explained that making sure pharmacists avoid burnout isn't enough. Pharmacists should be able to grow and thrive in their professional environment too.

 And then in addition to burnout, which is something that you would like to avoid, we also do research in the area of what's called well-being. That's being able to have constructive conditions at work and beyond even in your personal life that enable workers to thrive and achieve their full potential. So we're looking at: let's avoid burnout and some of the dimensions of that, but let's also look at our healthcare professionals able to thrive and achieve full potential.

 Matthew Witry, coauthor of the survey and an assistant professor in the department of pharmacy practice and science, division of health sciences research at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, said to keep in mind the complexity of these factors, individual and systemic.

 It's hard to disentangle these elements. If you're incredibly exhausted, because of a setting issue that's leading to exhaustion, that might prevent some of that personal accomplishment ability. A lot of these things are going to interact. Depersonalization, you might see more of that if you're already emotionally exhausted, so all these things are interacting with each other.

 Here's Dr. Gaither to shed some more light on these interconnected factors.

 National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine have been focusing on this issue of clinician burnout, and they've developed this model that I really do like. It talks about how you have frontline workers, and then you have these frontline workers, the health providers, who work for a particular health care organization who has different policies and procedures. Then there's also the external environment - so the things that are happening outside - and all of those things influence the provider who is providing care. They've talked about these work system factors which are things like job demands: so, what is your workload? How many hours are you working?

There's this idea of resources, and 1 of the things they talk about in terms of resources is how much control you have in your job. Those kinds of things are really influenced by the workplace and the system that you're working in. If there's a good balance there, then the health provider is able to really thrive but when the job demands become too high, then that's where you can get into some of the more negative consequences.

The other piece of that is, they say that these work system factors are also influenced by kind of the individual: so how much resilience that person has, and their ability to cope with adversity, and also how much their work and life are integrated. That can also influence burnout or the fulfillment that the health provider feels. I really I like the model because they've started to talk about the system factors that are beyond what the individual provider is able to contribute, and talk about the fact that burnout is not necessarily related to some kind of individual failure, but it's really related to kind of the way the work environment is structured.

 Dr. Gaither mentioned that corporate-owned chain pharmacy environments, where business decisions are out of pharmacists hands and workloads are increasing, those large companies are at risk for potentially burning out their pharmacists. But what about community pharmacies?

We’re seeing in community pharmacy practice that there's this great stress to conveniently and quickly and efficiently distribute medications, and that whole business model is changing.

 Improving pharmacy business models are vital for keeping pharmacists from burning out and staying in business. An estimated 2000 pharmacies have closed since 2018, many located in regions of the United States that are home to vulnerable populations, where their first point of care is often in their local pharmacy. Another non-negotiable way to minimize burnout and help pharmacists find fulfilment at their place of work is to address the system factors at play. 

As Dr. Gaither, Dr. Witry, and Dr. Schommer all mentioned, burnout is mainly a product of the health care system factors that get in the way of true fulfillment for medical professionals. Dr. Schommer explained that pharmacists are experiencing increasing pressure not just to be fast and efficient, but to be faster and more efficient in an increasingly competitive and instant-delivery world.

 In community pharmacy, practice, the distribution of pharmaceuticals is so vital and you have to have that pressure on you all day long to be as efficient as possible. At the same time, community pharmacies are being recognized by the public, by government agencies such as CDC, etc., as health care access points, that you can get vaccinations and immunizations and screening and point-of-care testing. There's a lot of patient care and public health services that are being provided. When you put those two goals together, work systems get very complicated, and it's very difficult to do both within the same space.

While pharmacists might be willing to take on these additional responsibilities to support their patients and provide the best care they can, these burnout factors - exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of a sense of autonomy and personal accomplishment - as well as the system constraints, can make it possible, especially during a pandemic.

They’re talking about this idea of moral injury, where the health providers want to be able to do certain things, but they're not able to because of other kind of constraints with within the organization, and that really affects how they can work to the best of their ability. Some of the things that I've heard about in pharmacy, is whether pharmacists get PPE and because they need them as well if they're going to be giving vaccinations and doing some of the services that the pharmacists typically do. What happens if your staff in the pharmacy gets ill with COVID-19?

The other thing that I think a lot about is, you're also serving people who have chronic illnesses, and whether they can get their medications. Are they afraid to come to the pharmacy? Are they still being taken care of in this situation?

I think there's a lot of things that this pandemic is revealing about the holes or disparities in the system. The other thing is some of the pharmacy benefit managers cutting some of the reimbursements. This is not the time to cut reimbursements, or do things that can inhibit the abilities of the pharmacist to do different tasks. That is something to that I'm hoping; I hope that these reimbursements and the way that pharmacists and other health providers are reimbursed does not get short shrift.

 Dr. Witry gave us an example of just how complex burnout factors can be, especially during a pandemic. He explains that while pharmacists may be emotionally and physically exhausted from working longer and more frequent ships, and my experience depersonalization from having to provide care to patients from behind a mask, and a plexiglass guard, they might also feel elevated levels of personal accomplishment for being able to assist the patients when they need them most.

 If someone feels that their employer isn't providing a safe environment, or you're interacting with patients who aren't taking this seriously, I would imagine that that's going to be a significant source of anxiety. On the other hand, a lot of pharmacists are probably feeling really appreciated. They're making a difference. They’re getting that getting that care to people, being that access point, answering important questions, being a source of care when people aren't going to their primary care physician appointments. They can still call their pharmacist or they can still talk to the pharmacist across the Plexiglas. The pharmacists are still in that position, especially in the community setting.

 There are also other potential issues that the COVID-19 epidemic can bring to the surface too, like hoarding medications and administering vaccines.

 As we move forward in the future, there will be new things. There's some evidence that patients are becoming very acutely aware that there could be drug shortages due to the pandemic and the effect on manufacturing around the world and are starting to consider hoarding and stop taking medications so that if it runs out, they would have a supply There's a lot of anxiety for our patients that we that we help. Also, what kind of role from a public health standpoint would pharmacists play? When a vaccine is discovered and developed or there's treatments being provided, there's a whole new set of things that pharmacists will be looked to provide and that requires change and updating our work systems and our processes of care. That all creates the opportunity, or the possibility, that pharmacists will experience stress and burnout.

 Experts are hopeful that the COVID-19 pandemic will open up the opportunity for improving pharmacist care and addressing health care system shortfalls.

 It opens up new opportunities for pharmacists to do really what we're called to do, which is to take care of our patients.

 We've recognized how fragmented our care system is, so being able to better communicate across different health providers and across different health systems. You have the pharmacists in the community, you have the pharmacist in the health system, pharmacists in long term care, and the ability to better communicate, I think across the different pharmacists, but also with other health providers would be very, very important.

Also, do the pharmacists feel that the employers kind of have their backs? Do they feel supported? I would say that in some places, they may not feel as supported as they could. Our employers really stepping up to take care of their health providers, I think is something that also probably needs to change. And then this idea of, I'm not exactly sure how to say this, but the profit motive in health care. There’s a lot of things that we could do better with if we had more resources and more reimbursements and those kinds of things to really provide patient care.

 So with the task as big as the United States health care system, what are the next steps?

 We like to use a certain quote. We look at the financial pressures in health care system, all the burden of documentation that we that we do in healthcare, the pressure to meet production metrics are places of practice, and this constant specter of litigation that's over us, really distract us from patient centered care, and it can even lead to conflicts of interest. If it happens once in a while, that's 1 thing, but it's in incessant, intensely routine, drip, drip, drip that we experience and again, as we talked before, really improving the systems in which we work, and that can be everything from personnel staff, processes of care, computer systems and technology needing to be updated, so they interact and provide information that we need when we need it. That is really an important next step for us to improve and to develop good work environments that we can thrive in.

We always go back to those quotes. It's not just pharmacy that's saying this, but all healthcare professions are saying pretty much the same thing. Moving forward, I would echo what Caroline Gaither said, in really focusing on our systems of care and employees, knowing that their workplace is there to as she put it, “I've got your back. I am here to really help you thrive so we can do what we're called to do.”

 That's all for this episode of Over the Counter. Check back next week for another expert interview covering the latest news trends and innovations in pharmacy. And don't forget to subscribe and share with your pharmacy friends. Thanks for listening.

In the newest episode of Over the Counter, 3 experts on professional burnout discuss the factors at play, and the impact the COVID-19 pandemic may be having on rates of pharmacist burnout. 

Episode 2: A Pandemic's Effect on Pharmacist Burnout

Rob Frankil, RPh, discusses how independent pharmacies in Pennsylvania are dealing with the impact of Rite Aid stores closing.

Q&A: Pharmacies Grapple With Patient Influx Amid Rite Aid Closures

The announcement comes shortly after the company announced it had filed its second chapter 11 bankruptcy in under 2 years.

Rite Aid to Sell Pharmacy Assets From Over 1,000 Stores to CVS, Walgreens

Douglas Hoey, CEO of NCPA, discusses what independent pharmacies can do to handle an influx of patients and what the chain’s situation means for the pharmacy landscape.

Q&A: Douglas Hoey on How Rite Aid’s Closure Will Impact Independent Pharmacies

On the most recent episode of Over the Counter, James Rider, PharmD, joined Drug Topics to discuss his career journey as a chain pharmacist. 

Chain Pharmacist Embracing Expanded Role in the Profession

James Rider, PharmD, shared reflections on his experiences as a pharmacy manager at CVS.

Q&A: Chain Pharmacist Shares Keys to Success in Retail Settings 

A conversation with Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA, CEO of NCPA, on the chain pharmacy’s announcement of a second Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Rite Aid’s Closure is a Call to Action to Address Pharmacy Payment Model

Rite Aid, which was once one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, recently announced it has filed its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be closing all of its stores or selling them.

The company, which has continued to face financial hardships since filing for its first Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, said its stores will remain open for the next few months so that patients can continue to receive care.

Rite Aid currently has 1240 stores located in 15 states, down from about 2100 when it filed its first bankruptcy. The company said in a letter to customers it is “working to facilitate a smooth transfer of customer prescriptions to other pharmacies.”

According to a previous survey from the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), 43% of respondents said they are located near a chain pharmacy that has been impacted by closures or reduced hours.

Although nearly 90% of respondents said they would be able to absorb patients who were receiving care at one of the chain stores, but low reimbursement, and not enough staff or resources would make it difficult.

® recently sat down with Douglas Hoey, RPh, MBA, CEO of NCPA, to discuss how Rite Aid store closures will impact independent pharmacies across the country, what independent pharmacies can do to effectively handle an influx of patients, and what Rite Aid’s situation means for the pharmacy landscape.

“Without payment reform, pharmacies as we know them are moving toward extinction—that won’t happen—but it’s a call to action for legislators who have been sitting on their hands and employers who have been unaware of the situation that they need to do something different,” Hoey said. “What they need to do differently is they need to pay pharmacies fairly. Cost-plus, a fair dispensing fee, transparency, simplicity, [and] predictability is what is needed to fix this broken system.”

Pharmacy practice is always changing. Stay ahead of the curve: Sign up for our

and get the latest drug information, industry trends, and patient care tips, straight to your inbox.

1. Rite Aid Is Pursuing a Strategic and Value-Maximizing Sale Process. News Release. Rite Aid. May 5, 2025. Accessed May 8, 2025. 

https://news.riteaid.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2025/Rite-Aid-Is-Pursuing-a-Strategic-and-Value-Maximizing-Sale-Process/default.aspx

2. NCPA Survey: Chain Pharmacy Closures an Opportunity and a Threat for Independents. News Release. NCPA. September 28, 2023. Accessed May 8, 2025. 

https://ncpa.org/newsroom/news-releases/2023/09/28/ncpa-survey-chain-pharmacy-closures-opportunity-and-threat

Total Pharmacy

James Rider, PharmD: Part 1

James Rider, PharmD: Part 2

According to James Rider, PharmD, pharmacy manager of a CVS in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and 2024 National Paragon Award recipient, being a pharmacist makes him feel like a rock star.

"I always talk about my position as a pharmacist as being like a rock star," he said in an interview with 

 for American Pharmacists Month. "I, at the end of every day, feel like a rock star, because I feel like people need me. They have lots of questions, and they access and utilize me as a resource for them, and at the end of the day, that's what drives me the most."

In his role, his most significant reward comes from the satisfaction of helping patients on an individual level. Whether that be something as simple as recommending an OTC product, or something more complicated such as assisting someone with hospital discharge instructions, the feeling of helping others motivates him to provide excellent care.

However, working as a manager in a high-volume retail setting presents its own challenges, including staffing. Rider emphasized the importance of effective staffing and training as key strategies for ensuring high-quality patient care and customer service; by investing in his team, Rider can focus on building stronger relationships with patients.

, Rider reflected on his early days in pharmacy, the value of collaboration in expanding pharmacists' role, and the unique advantages of working in a chain pharmacy.

Our coverage of American Pharmacists Month continues all October. To view all of our interviews, 

visit our American Pharmacists Month landing resource center

James Rider, PharmD, shared his experiences as a pharmacy manager at CVS.

Chain Pharmacist on “Feeling Like a Rock Star” in His Community

Adam J. James, PharmD: Part 1

Adam J. James, PharmD: Part 2

Adam J. James, PharmD: Part 3

From interning at the pharmacy chain during his PharmD program, to becoming a pharmacy manager, to joining the clinical services team, to managing immunization and clinical programs, Adam J. James, PharmD, has carved out a rewarding career at Rite Aid.

In his current role, James is responsible for "making Rite Aid's immunization program successful." This involves developing policies, procedures, and educational materials to keep pharmacists informed about vaccine recommendations and best practices and ensuring they can administer as many vaccines as possible. Beyond immunization, James manages the company's travel health consultation program, cold storage monitoring, and pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP, PEP) programs.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the job, he said, is the opportunity to educate and empower pharmacists across Rite Aid's extensive network.

Looking ahead, James believes that community pharmacists have a tremendous opportunity to expand their role in patient care. With the increasing complexity of health care and the growing trust in pharmacists, there is a greater need for their expertise in areas such as medication therapy management, point-of-care testing, and chronic disease management.

, James discussed his leadership role at Rite Aid, including innovations, patient care initiatives, and learnings from chain pharmacy.

Drug Topics sat down with Adam J. James, PharmD, to discuss learnings from his extensive experience at Rite Aid.

Chain Pharmacist Leads the Way in Patient Care Innovation

Kathryn Marwitz, PharmD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Social and Administrative Sciences) at Manchester University in Fort Wayne, Indiana, sat down with 

at the APhA 2023 Annual Meeting to share her perspectives on the role of pharmacists in managing medical misinformation.

Are pharmacists obligated to correct medical misinformation they encounter online? 

Chain Pharmacy

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