Pharmacy Technician Day 2024 - by Tessa King

Pharmacy Technician Day on Tuesday 15th October is a celebration of the work undertaken by Pharmacy Technicians in a range of settings. 

Tessa King, a level 3 Pharmacy Technician apprentice, shared an account of how she celebrated the day. 

Pharmacy Technician Day 2024 by Tessa King 

Each year on the third Tuesday in October, the pharmacy community celebrates Pharmacy Technicians through a National Day of Recognition. Pharmacy Technician Day 'serves as a tribute to the hard work and wavering commitment of pharmacy technicians, highlighting the vital support they provide their colleagues' (PharmTechSociety). Therefore, this year to commemorate the occasion, my colleagues and I decided to promote the department by holding a stall within the pharmacy setting. 

Prior to the day, we set time aside to share and discuss a variety of ideas that would engage and entice anyone passing by. We wanted the 'stall' to look approachable and interactive, therefore I suggested in doing so by incorporating a variety of interactive games. We also included a three-sided notice board that included information on the role, the job requirements and possible future career paths. Although the areas covered were broad, we kept the information written to a minimum and chose to talk further about the role, with those who appeared interested. 

As there were three of us promoting the role of a Pharmacy Technician, we equally shared the workload, and all chose to specialise within areas that we felt most confident in. I chose to discuss the different routes into the course and how to apply, alongside daily tasks that are undertaken within the dispensary. 

Nicole a qualified Technician and Natalie, chose to discuss further career paths and specialisms, such as the Aseptic Unit in which she has recently completed training. We then considered the interactive games based on individual tasks participated within each area of the role. For those based within the dispensary I chose to create a 'Guess how many' 'capsules' are within the clip lock bottle, with the winner winning a box of luxury chocolates. Nicole incorporated Accuracy Checking and asked those playing to check a total of three errors on a mock patient prescription and the corresponding prescribed items, in order to win a chocolate. Whilst Natalie created a series of interactive play, asking individuals to accurately check the millilitres of solution drawn up within two twenty ml syringes and asked for each individual to draw up a set quantity from the same solution, again to win a home baked cake. 

Each interactive activity was a huge success in engaging individuals walking by and created quite the crowd. Whilst we had the attention of staff members and outpatients, we then addressed the reason for our attendance on the day and gave those asking advice on the role of a Pharmacy Technician and how to apply to the specific job. 

Overall, the day was quite a success, and we received lots of positive feedback on our teamwork, approach and presentation. We also were confident in the total number of those who showed interest in the role and looking to apply the following year. I also felt confident in the advice and knowledge I shared with each individual and the skillset shared whilst engaging those within each interative task. 
 

Reference: The Pharmacy Technician Society