About the Resource Center
Hospitals and health systems are experiencing severe shortages of pharmacy technicians.
Pharmacy technicians are responsible for crucial functions that support patient care, including sterile compounding, inventory management, medication order distribution, billing, handling hazardous drugs, and many other essential functions. A recent survey, conducted on behalf of ASHP, reported that hospital and health-system pharmacy administrators are increasing the use of overtime and nearly 9 out of 10 used pharmacists to perform tasks usually handled by technicians.
The shifting of pharmacists from a clinical role to tasks typically handled by technicians pulls pharmacists away from direct patient care where they play an important part in ensuring safe use of medications and optimal medication outcomes.
Pharmacy technicians generally reported strong job satisfaction, with 54% citing their desire to help patients as a motivation to stay. They also identified supervising pharmacists as important factors, with nearly three-quarters of technicians indicating this relationship contributes to their job satisfaction. Even with that strong job satisfaction, technicians are often frustrated with heavy workloads, inadequate staffing, and inadequate compensation. Flexible work scheduling and career ladders contribute to positive job satisfaction. Salary was most often cited as the reason a technician might consider leaving their current position, and three-quarters of technicians who responded to the survey said higher pay is the most important way to retain pharmacy technicians.
This resource center aims to help hospitals and health-systems better address the shortage of pharmacy technicians.
