Pharmacy Career
Healthcare is a highly demanding industry, which leaves healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, with minimal time to focus on themselves. This results in burnout, often characterized by reduced enthusiasm and sense of individual accomplishments, emotional exhaustion, and skepticism. In this article, we highlight ten tips to re-energize your pharmacy career when feeling burnt out.
Attend conferences
Conferences are excellent learning opportunities and can help you meet new people in your field. Be sure to interact with different persons you do not already know and determine what makes their pharmacist jobs unique. You can even share tips on becoming a better pharmacist while learning about new job opportunities in the industry.
Consider joining classes that pique your passions and interest instead of attending sessions that offer you CE credits while at a conference. You could also take advantage of your time at the meeting to familiarize yourself with other industries and how they support your profession.
Take a new role
Picking up a different role is an effective way to beat burnout, network with like-minded individuals, and build valuable relationships within your locality. You could consider volunteering for exciting projects or picking up shifts outside your day job. For instance, if you are a hospital pharmacist, you could consider taking up retail shifts to experience a different pace and setting. Working at a retail pharmacy can enable you to interact with more patients outside a hospital setting, giving you an exciting break from your regular job.
Network with other pharmacists
Find like-minded professionals or pharmacists in your location and schedule regular meetings. You could even organize monthly or quarterly pub quiz visits. Be sure to join individuals intrigued by knowing more about your industry and dedicate time to talking about your career experiences. This will enable you to learn more from others and give you new skills and knowledge to apply in your area of specialization. Consider attending similar conferences and meetings with others to provide you with more opportunities for interaction.
Talk it out
Be sure to dedicate time to discuss your options with your family or close friends before making any major decision. Meet up with your boss over lunch, coffee, or dinner and talk about prospects of growing in your role. Do not be afraid to let them know of your interests and challenges to enable them to be more objective in helping you plan a way forward. You could also reach out to your mentor and discuss possibilities to enable you to make an informed decision. If you are thinking about taking a new role or switching companies, you could select a trusted adviser and pick their brain regarding the advantages and disadvantages of their jobs and employers.
Weigh your options
If you feel really burnt out and are ready to take on new roles, consider updating your resume and sending applications. You could even consider taking up a different career type. However, ensure that you first determine responsibilities in a new position and the new company culture.
As a pharmacist, you have many career options, especially when you are creative. For instance, you could consider providing social media help to fellow pharmacists who want more interactions with the public, allowing you to supplement your regular gig.
Attend a continuing education class
Continuing Education (CE) classes do not only provide you the opportunity to hone your pharmaceutical skills and learn something that excites you to go to work. They also increase the chances of meeting new people or reconnecting with old friends. Social interactions can stimulate you, enabling you to reconnect with your career.
CE classes are provided throughout the year, and based on your schedule, you could choose to attend an online class setting or traditional classrooms. You are also not limited to pharmacy-specific classes. Consider attending business classes or improv lessons to familiarize yourself with your pharmacy’s profitability and improve your charisma.
Read
One of the easiest ways to re-energize your pharmacy career is by reading. Whether you want to know the origin of your practice or want to keep up-to-speed with recent research, there is always a blog, article, forum, or book for you. You could pick a self-help book that guides you through interacting more effectively with your patients or a copy that enables you to understand the pharmacy’s clinical side.
However, ensure that you read a piece that inspires you to return to your daily roles. Consider listening to podcasts or audiobooks if you do not love reading or are running low on time.
Become a mentor
If there are new hires within your company, consider volunteering to mentor them. Often, new staff members have difficulties adapting to new company culture, meeting expectations, and familiarizing themselves with their new roles and responsibilities. By mentoring them, you could make new hires transition to their new roles more straightforward and successful. This re-energizes you by allowing you to view things from a new perspective.
Maintain a healthy work-life balance
If you often spend more time at work and fewer hours with your family and friends, it is time to cut back. Determine what you need to work on and be fully committed. However, you should also know when to step away from your work and be present for your personal life.
Be sure to delegate tasks, take time off, create blocks of time between tasks and enlist technology. You should then use the free time to attend family events, go on vacations, and schedule self-care routines, among other practices that help balance your work and personal life. This enables you to be more relaxed and productive at work.
Surround yourself with motivators
Most workplaces have employees who often bring passion and positive energy into the office. Such an employee rubs off an excellent dynamism that keeps others motivated. Be sure to identify and surround yourself with your workplace’s motivator to stay focused and energized towards achieving your bottom line.
Endnote
If you’re feeling burnt out, you can attend conferences, network with others, enroll in CE classes, become a mentor, weigh your options, surround yourself with motivators, and maintain a healthy work-life balance to re-energize your pharmacy career.
