Social distancing and prevention at the Pharmacy, for the Pharmacy team
The big chain pharmacies during the COVID-19 situation often have markings on the floor lining up to the pharmacy counter. The pharmacy counters are also equipped with barriers such as glass shields. The folk behind the counter are also wearing face masks and and sometimes even gloves. All these efforts are to further prevent the spread of COVID-19 between the pharmacy team and the customers and patients.
Then what about the pharmacy team? What steps should be taken so that the pharmacy team is just as safe as the people they serve?
The pharmacy team should always have face masks on when entering the pharmacy, regardless of their symptoms. The virus is capable of being spread even if the person is asymptomatic. The virus is thought to be spread between people who interact at close proximity to each other. As a precaution, the team should also suspend their services that require face to face encounters such as immunizations or blood pressure readings, as these procedure increase the risk of spreading the virus.
Members of the pharmacy team who do develop signs or symptoms of COVID-19 such as a fever should contact their team managers and plan to stay home. This further protects the pharmacy team from potentially being infected, as well as gives potential sick employees a chance to recover and take care of themselves at home.
Additionally at the counter, staff should encourage their patients and customers to submit their prescription requests and orders online or via the pharmacy telephone number to minimize contact time at the pharmacy. The same should also be done with prescribers, to minimize paper prescriptions which can be a carrier of the virus. Minimizing these potential carriers will help reduce the risk spreading the virus to the pharmacy team.
Hand sanitizer should be provided at the pharmacy counter for customers and staff to use. The pharmacy team should also avoid handling anything touched by the patient directly such as insurance cards or drivers licenses, and instead have the patient show or read the information to the pharmacy team member instead. If a team member must handle an object from a patient or customer, they should wash their hands or use hand sanitizer after the transaction. The repeated use of hand sanitizer throughout the day further stops the spread of the virus to the pharmacy team.
Finally, pharmacy teams want to encourage all customers to use drive-through windows if available. This creates a physical barrier between the pharmacy team and the customer, which promotes social distancing. If drive-through windows are not available at your pharmacy, pharmacy team members should remind patients to stay at at least 6 feet away from each other when lining up the the pharmacy counter. The distance is usually marked on the floor with tape or some other indicator.
Pharmacies are essential during the COVID-19 situation and social distancing and the prevention are more important than ever before. More information regarding the specifics on what to do as a pharmacy team member can be found on the CDC website.