Pharmacy professionals evolve into strategic leaders, mastering emotional intelligence and management skills to navigate complex workplace dynamics and enhance patient care.
In an era of evolving health care delivery, pharmacy professionals are increasingly required to do more than dispense medications—they must become strategic leaders who can navigate complex workplace dynamics. Kristen Jones, PharmD, AVP of professional liability strategic operations at the Pharmacists Mutual Insurance Company, discusses the critical skills modern pharmacists need beyond clinical expertise, highlighting a significant gap in traditional pharmacy education where human resources and management training are often overlooked.
Pharmacy professionals evolve into strategic leaders, mastering emotional intelligence and management skills to navigate complex workplace dynamics and enhance patient care. | Image Credit: lubero - stock.adobe.com
With increasing pressures from regulatory bodies, pharmacists are now expected to be not just health care providers but also managers who can recruit, retain, and develop talent while maintaining rigorous professional standards. This shift demands a new approach to pharmacy leadership that goes far beyond the traditional view of pharmacists as mere medication dispensers, emphasizing emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and a comprehensive understanding of workplace regulations.
Drug Topics®: What do you believe are the most critical qualities or skills for a pharmacist to possess to effectively lead and develop a high-performing pharmacy team?
Kristen Jones, PharmD: I actually think that the leadership qualities aren't unique to pharmacists. I think when we look around at leadership across the board that there's some key pieces that everybody needs and everybody has. So first of all, emotional intelligence, being able to understand what's going on around you, how the people around you are acting. Then I also think that obviously, as pharmacists, we have to have clinical judgment, make good decisions, and make sure that the people around us are making good decisions, and then, from a manager standpoint, it's really about accountability. How are we holding each and every one of the people working with us accountable for their actions? So whether it's showing up to work on time, making sure that they're doing their clinical training, CEs [continuing education] those types of things, we also have to look at that type of thing too.
Drug Topics: Can you discuss some key legal pitfalls or regulations that pharmacists need to be particularly aware of during the hiring and terminating processes?
Jones: Most of us that went to pharmacy school never took an HR [human resources] class, and so, just understanding what the rules are around the hiring and termination of employees but then also all the pieces in the middle. So thinking about what type of strategies have you set up within the pharmacy that you're working in to make sure that performance reviews are done regularly, the documentation of those reviews is done regularly? Anytime you have to have any type of disciplinary action with an employee, again, making sure that information is documented. I think that a lot of times we just fall into a trap because we're busy taking care of patients, and we forget to take care of our employees, and then that pharmacist will end up in a legal situation that doesn't always go well because we don't have that background and knowledge of what to do. So more than anything, I think it's important to keep open communication and documentation.
Drug Topics: Beyond hiring and termination, what other employment laws or regulations are most pertinent to the daily operations of a pharmacy?
Jones: I think it's really important that we remember that there are different laws that protect that protect our workers. So thinking about OSHA [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] and exposure to hazardous chemicals, that I don't think that even in the community pharmacy that pharmacists recognize that USP 800 does apply to them and some of the practices that go on in community pharmacy. Also thinking about the American With Disabilities Act, recognizing that we're following those rules. Any state regulations that you may not know about or may have been implemented, things about overtime pay and so just some things that I don't think we regularly think about from a manager standpoint.
Drug Topics: What steps do you take to identify, attract, and recruit high-quality pharmacists and technicians who will contribute to excellent patient care?
Jones: Culture is key, so really putting forth a culture within your pharmacy that it's a great place to work that we focus on taking care of patients. It's not necessarily about speed or those types of things, but we talk about [how] we're here to take care of our community or our patients, and then that translates into a group of people that all are working towards the same goal and really fosters that culture within the pharmacy. So many times that makes it someplace people want to work, and then I also think that it's really important that we think about how are we treating technicians and recruiting technicians and offering maybe a career ladder so that we can keep technicians engaged and being able to vary their tasks so that they don't suffer some of the emotional burnout that others are suffering in industries, and finally, I also think that's really important that we look at student engagement. So maybe you're visiting the high school during a career fair and talking about pharmacy or looking at hiring some of those students part time so that they get an idea of how great the pharmacy industry is, and maybe that's a track for you to attract either pharmacy technicians or perhaps a pharmacist to come into work in your store later on.
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