BOSTON REED COLLEGE Pharmacy Technician Program Handout Medication Errors Role Play Roleplay - Medication Errors and

Angry Customers Break into groups of 3-4 1 person is the angry customer/nurse/doctor (remember to be angry) 1 person is the pharmacy technician 1-2 people are observers Discuss as a whole group after each situation

Situation 1) Dr. Knowitall writes an order for Heparin 250u sc stat. The doctor meant to write 2500 units sc stat. The order gets filled for 250 units, the patient develops a blood clot and dies. Dr.Knowitall calls the pharmacy and speaks to Marie the pharmacy technician. You people in the pharmacy always manage to screw up my orders and now youve killed someone is what Marie hears over the phone. Situation 2) Mrs. Jones returns to the pharmacy and says her Lanoxin pills are pink this time instead of the usual yellow. She wants to know why they are a different color. Situation 3) John Blythe calls the pharmacy and speaks to Claudia the pharmacy technician. He states that he picked up his prescription for Amoxicillin that he was to take 4 times a day. Its been 5 days now and he still doesnt feel better. He happened to look at the label and it says John Boothe on it and the drug name is Lotensin. He does admit feeling tired lately and wants to know what happened. Claudia states that he got the wrong persons medication and she asked Mr. Blythe why he didnt read the label before he took the medication. Situation 4) Mr. Landers returns to the pharmacy and says that his high blood pressure medication is missing 2 tablets. This isnt the first time this has happened to me at this place- I know you people do this on purpose he says loudly in front of the massive line at the counter.

Points to consider ( in real life- not roleplay) Never antagonize an angry customer Dont make judgment calls- always refer to the pharmacist Try to remain calm Know that some customers want to get a rise out of you- dont give those people the upper hand by losing your cool Come up with some of your own