CPhT Spotlight:
Suzanne Berrier and Amy Owens

Suzanne Berrier, CPhT and Amy Owens, CPhT, are pharmacy technicians working at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (WFUBMC) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They provide services to the 821-bed tertiary care academic medical center. The director of pharmacy for WFUBMC applauded Suzanne and Amy's contributions to the department by saying, "These talented technicians provide a valuable service for our patients and spread their professionalism throughout our department. They are committed to the highest level of quality and service."

Suzanne has been a pharmacy technician for almost two years and started her career at CVS after an initial attraction to the health care field. She set a personal goal to become a certified technician once she transferred to WFUBMC, a goal that was expedited by her desire to participate in the Acudose Restocking Project new program which requires certification. The Acudose Restocking Project at WFUBMC is a tech-check-tech pilot program approved by the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy (NOBP). The responsibilities of this job position require technicians to fill all non-narcotic oral doses for the Acudose automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs). Once the medications are pulled for the ADC, a second technician checks the pulls for accuracy much like a pharmacist does in other facilities. A pharmacist audit is required of the tech-check-tech process.

Suzanne says the most rewarding part of her job is, "maximizing space within the ADCs and making it easier and safer for nurses to get the medications to patients in a timely fashion." She also sees a benefit in having a focused group of technicians specializing in filling the ADCs as they get to know the nursing units' needs and make efficient changes to optimize the process.

This pilot program, watched closely by NCBOP, has presented Suzanne with increased responsibilities including keeping track of the pharmacist audits and attending NCBOP open hearings. On April 20, 2010, the Advanced Pharmacy Technician rule was approved by the NCBOP, moving the program from a pilot program to an adopted rule. During her work as a pharmacy technician, Suzanne has appreciated seeing the program develop from its initial stages to being included in the BOP public hearing.

When Suzanne is not working, she enjoys gardening, reading, and traveling.

Amy Owens, CPhT

Amy Owens has been a WFUBMC technician for 12 years and a CPhT for five years. She originally had planned to go to nursing school, but took a job as a pharmacy technician and "fell in love with it!" Her decision to become certified fulfilled her desire for professional growth.

Amy is a Medication Reconciliation Technician (MRT). She started her technician career in the central pharmacy and then went on to become a trainer in the IV room. Amy believes that there is more to being a technician than simply filling prescriptions. She says, "There is a sick person on the other end receiving the medication; you must keep that in the front of your mind." She felt that something was missing because she never got to interact with her patients. When the MRT position became available she applied, interviewed, and started her current position, which she has been in for three years.

In her current role she visits with patients in the Emergency Department, inpatient areas, surgical services, or the pre-operative assessment clinic and obtains a medication list that includes prescription, OTC, and herbal medications. Amy is also responsible for asking about allergies to medications, foods, latex, tape, dyes, etc. This list is provided to the pharmacists, nurses, and prescribers. The technicians are not able to actually reconcile the list with the orders, but their list is used by others on the team to do so. Sometimes this role requires Amy to do detective work if the patient is not sure of what they are taking or unable to communicate. She makes calls to outside pharmacies, family members, and nursing homes in order to obtain the most accurate list possible.

The most rewarding parts of this role for Amy are, "the physicians relying more and more on the lists prepared by the technicians. The physicians trust that we are doing a thorough job and recognize the benefits of having us in that role."

When Amy is not working in her technician role, she enjoys spending time with her husband, tending to the land they own and working with her church.