Patient counselling
I work in a busy community pharmacy where we get 50-100 interactions a day. We counsel a lot - we make notes even of small changes so patients have all the information. We also get a ton of questions regarding minor ailments and OTC products. Sometimes it can be a lot, especially during a solo work shift. You could have multiple patients waiting for you to check a script, but when someone walks up to the counselling window, you want to make sure they feel seen and heard too.
The interaction started like any other with a middle aged female, a couple kids in tow, asking about side effects of a antipsychotic medication. She had been struggling with anxiety and tried a new medication, had a poor experience due to side effects heightening the anxiety, and ended up in withdrawal after she stopped. As she got teary eyed, she explained that it had been 3 weeks since withdrawal started.
I had never felt helpless for a patient like that before - wishing there was something I could do to take away the acute distress they were in. Not only was her anxiety not being managed, but she was suffering as a result of trying to do just that.
I talked to her. For as long as she needed. She kept coming back, talking some more. Each time maybe 10 minutes. She asked me to discuss another medication she could try with her physician. She improved a little bit each time I saw her. The final time we talked, I was the one teary eyed.
I knew she felt she was at the end of her rope, but I had no idea how fast she was slipping. She disclosed to me that because of the interactions we had, she was still here today.
I still can’t wrap my head around it - someone’s daughter, sister, niece, mother, chose to keep going because of what I had done. It wasn’t a medication. It wasn’t a straight forward recommendation. It was compassion, empathy, connection.
Even on hard days, I think of this patient. I think of her kids, sitting in a shopping cart while she filled up with emotion. I think of the smile she had weeks later, standing in the same place she once felt like ending it all. I think of her when I, too, fill with emotion throughout my days trying my best to serve my community.
Because of a pharmacist, something important happened.
