Some wedding things...

As I wait for my room to cool off so I can workout, I'll share some wedding plans with you. We've picked a date: July 30, 2010 and a venue: the Charlotte Country Club. I've picked a dress for me and my 'maids! Even Mom has found a dress already! We're making little decisions here and there, but each one makes me feel accomplised (that is until I look at the planning manual and realize all the other decisions to be made!)

Thomas and I think we have the wedding party set and our friends and families are very excited to be a part of our day. Last weekend we went out to the Club to meet with our event planner and to see how they were setting up for another wedding. It was super helpful to see the rooms set and to start thinking about where we want tables, and how many, and what kinds. And to do the math to make sure we can fit enough chairs in the room for the ceremony and that sort of thing. Our event planner also gave us their Preferred Vendor List. We don't have to use those folks necessarily, but they do have more experience working with them so it narrows the field a bit.

So, decisions made: venue (and caterer), clothes for the girls, photographer, and shape of the wedding cake (and possibly another dessert surprise)!
Decisions left to make: officiant, boys clothes, baker, flowers, music, menu.....lots! Good thing we're going to a Bridal Showcase in a couple of weeks!

A couple days alone and my first weekend

Last Friday was my first day working as a pharmacist all by myself. I was the "Front" pharmacist which meant my primary responsibility was checking things. There is a lot to check! I had been training for over a week in that position, but Friday happened to be a busy day and we were one pharmacist short, making my task that much harder. Before even an hour into the shift I felt like I was being pulled in 3 different directions between new orders being started, narcotics to check, and the Pyxis pull to refill the automated dispensing machines around the hospital. Thankfully, around the middle of the day things calmed down just enough for me to feel in control.

This was my first weekend to work as well. Thomas and I made plans a couple months ago to go see our wedding venue set up for a wedding this July and since it happened to be this weekend, I got out of working Saturday. (It was super helpful to see the space, more on that in my next entry!) Anyways, Sunday felt busy again, and all these extra responsibilities kept popping up. For example, our IV pharmacist went upstairs for a hour or two to make some chemo and that left me to check IVs as well as the oral/topical medications. And since there isn't a pharmacist at the Orthopaedic hospital on the weekends, I had to check their cart fill (a 24 hour supply of medications for each patient) as well as the Main hospitals. It was too bad, it was just startling to realize I had all these other things to do when I already felt overwhelmed.

Training has its ups and downs. I'm looking forward to the next few weeks when I can concentrate on order entry and start to feel like I'm really contributing to the team. One of the criticisms I received over my last year in pharmacy school is that I'm too hard on myself and not patient enough with myself when trying to learn a new skill. I don't like doing things wrong even though I know you learn from your mistakes, so I am trying very hard to be patient with myself for the next few weeks (ahem, months) of training.

Signing my initials

About a week and a half ago I took a few days off from work. Less than a month in and already requesting a vacation? Not so much. It was cramming time. For 48 hours I tried to refresh my memory on everything pharmacy law related. Then last Friday Thomas and I arrived at the testing center, had our fingerprints recorded, our palm veins scanned, our pictures taken, our stuff locked away and led into the testing room to begin the first of two licensing exams. We were given 2 hours but were finished in just over an hour.

For the weekend, more cramming. Another 48 hours to shove as much pharmacy knowledge back into my head. Learn something about HIV and oncology drugs, remember which pysch meds have the worst side effects, learn about some over the counter medications since I don't ever see them working in a hospital. At 7:15 on Monday morning, Thomas and I were the first two in line at the testing center. We repeated the check in process and started the second exam, this time with a 4 hour time limit. Right at the two hour mark I heard Thomas leave, he was finished. I on the other hand was getting hit with compounding and calculations questions I didn't have a clue how to begin to solve. I wanted to cry. I pushed through, but seriously thought this was the worst I'd ever felt about a test, there was no way I could pass.

Tuesday afternoon we got the results of our law test, we passed! Wednesday night we got the results of our board exam, we passed! Thursday morning I logged on to the Board of Pharmacy website and enter my name in the search field to "verify a license." There I am! I have a license number! I'm a "real pharmacist" now!! My coworkers were ecstatic! My reward? Here, here's a counter full of meds to go to the floor and cart fill (a 24 hour supply of meds for each patient), start checking!

So for about two days now I've been signing my initials on things. I've caught mistakes technicians have made and at times I've felt overwhelmed with the amount of things that needed my attention. I even realized they've already given my technician number away to a new person. Its been a little strange, and I don't know that its my favorite role to play, but at least I feel productive at work now and not like I'm just in the way or hogging a chair. We had a celebratory dinner at my mom's house last night and need to plan one with Thomas's family soon. Along with celebrating his license, he needs to celebrate finally getting his official employment offer and starting orientation this Monday. We're starting to feel like grown-ups, and that's pretty awesome.