Amanda Bernhagen organised custom cookies for her team to celebrate Pharmacy Technician Day

On 18 October, RBWH celebrated the contribution of our amazing pharmacy technicians for National Pharmacy Technician Day.

Pharmacy Technician Amanda Bernhagen shared her favourite parts of her role, and how her team marked the annual day.

What does your role as a hospital pharmacy technician entail?

Being a pharmacy Technician at RBWH involves a variety of tasks, dispensing prescriptions, providing imprest medications, compounding chemotherapy treatments, filling controlled drug orders, assisting with clinical trials and so much more. The bottom line is assisting pharmacists with any task we can.

Why is your profession vital to the work done at RBWH?

Pharmacy technicians are vital to the work we do here because they are the eyes and ears everywhere in the pharmacy department. My favourite definition of our role is: Pharmacy Technician (noun) – someone who solves a problem you didn’t know you had in a way you don’t understand. See also: Wizard, magician. 

What excites you about your work?

It’s ever changing, growing, and improving! It’s exciting to be part of a team that is constantly finding the best way possible to help patients.

What are your proudest accomplishments and what more do you hope to achieve?

Being the first ever Tech on The Society of Hospital Pharmacists Australia (SHPA) QLD Branch Committee. I hope to continue working with like-minded assistants and technicians as part of the driving force behind the progression of the pharmacy assistant career path, I strongly believe there is so much more space for growth and optimisation of the role.

How did you mark 2022 Pharmacy Technician Day with your team?

This year I organised a few different celebrations for my team this year:

• Every member of the team was gifted a custom sugar cookie which I had made especially for the occasion
• A few weeks prior to the day, I asked the broader pharmacy team to help out by submitting anonymous compliments for each technician in the team. I collated all of these onto a unique design, printed and handed them out with the cookies.
• To add an extra layer of fun to the day, I organised eight sustainability themed lucky draw prizes, with the winners’ names picked out of a jar:
  • 3 x $5 coffee vouchers
  • 1 x $25 coffee voucher
  • 1 x Keep Cup
  • 1 x Water bottle
  •  1 x pack of re-usable straws
  • 1 x pack of re-usable cutlery

The staff in satellite areas such as North Lakes and Biala weren’t left out – they just had to wait for their gift and compliment to get to them via courier or internal mail!

Thank you to all our Pharmacy Technicians for the great work you do.