Inpatient Pharmacy Technician Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides detailed information on the job description of an inpatient pharmacy technician, to increase your knowledge of the duties, tasks, and responsibilities they commonly perform.

What Does an Inpatient Pharmacy Technician Do?

The inpatient pharmacy technician is employed in clinics and hospitals. His/her work is directly supervised by a pharmacist and they provide services to patients in such hospital or clinic.

The job description of an inpatient pharmacy technician includes receiving medication orders from hospital personnel instead of directly receiving prescriptions from the patients as is done by technicians in community pharmacy.

He/she does not receive payment for the medication given out.

He/she may be required to collaborate with the staff pharmacist of the hospital in dispensing medications to clients going through inpatient treatment.

As soon as the technician receives orders for medication from nurses or ward clerks, they are required to organize the quantity of medication ordered.

In some hospitals, accurate number of capsules or tablets are automatically dispensed into a cup or bottle with the aid of an automated medication dispensing system and then delivered to the patient.

However, in hospitals that lack the automated dispensing system, the pharmacy technician will be mandated to manually count out the tablets or capsules.

He/she may also be responsible for compounding medications such as ointments or elixirs and mixture of medications with a syrup essence using standardized methods and recipes to formulate compounded medications.

His/her work is often assessed by the pharmacist before he/she delivers the medications to the patient for utilization.

At the completion of the pharmacist’s review and comparison between the prescription and finished medication, the medication will be ready for delivery.

Inpatient pharmacy technicians’ role may also involve apportioning prepared medications to the floor personnel.

Other duties they may perform include going round and distributing medication to the patients directly, and if patients have inquiries on medications, the technician may organize a healthcare professional expert such as doctor or pharmacist to talk the issues over with the patient.

Inpatient Pharmacy Technician Job Description Example/Sample/Template

The job description for most inpatient pharmacy technicians will consist of the following duties, tasks, and responsibilities, which they must carry out:

• Organize and maintain the profile of patients and a record of medications taken by specific patients.
• Organize the appropriate storage and safe environment for drugs and medications.
• Respond to requests and inquiry, as well as telephone calls.
• Fill containers or bottles with the prescribed medications and prepackaging of medicines.
• Compound pharmaceutical compositions in line with written prescriptions.
• Render assistance to customers by giving solutions to simple inquires and locate items or direct them to the pharmacist for information on medication.
• Receive and stock supplies and confirm quantities against invoices.
• Look out for obsolete medications in present inventory and ensure supervisors are aware of shortages and stock needs.

Inpatient Pharmacy Technician Job Description for Resume

Information provided in the job description example above can be used in making a resume for the position, majorly in completing the job history component of the resume.

Inpatient Pharmacy Technician Requirements: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities for Career Success

Inpatient pharmacy technicians are required to complete an associate degree program in fields related to their work, including the biological and health sciences.

In addition to this, they are also required to possess the following qualities, and qualifications:

• Completion of pharmacy technician program running through nine months, or a high school diploma.
• A valid and open pharmacy technician license.
• At least a year’s experience in clinical and/or inpatient pharmacy procedures.
• Validated experience and proven familiarity with pharmacy work in diverse locations, including hospitals.