Pharmacy Staff

Pharmacy Staff, consists of pharmacists and auxiliary personnel. To pharmaceutical personnel belong: the pharmacy manager, his deputy (in large pharmacies), prescription clerk, controller, assistant, defectarius, laboratory assistant, hand clerk; to auxiliary personnel belong: bookkeeper-selector, packer, laboratory worker, dish washer, cleaner. The right to pharmaceutical title and work is determined by Article 36 of the decree of the VTsIK and SNK of December 1, 1924. The right to manage a pharmacy is granted to persons who have pharmaceutical title (Article 38 of the aforementioned decree of VTsIK and SNK) and have at least three years of practical experience after receiving this title. The right to manage a pharmacy is also held by pharmacists who received education before the establishment of specialized pharmaceutical educational institutions and have the title of pharmacy assistant, pharmacist, master of pharmacy. The pharmacy manager (his deputy) bears legal and material responsibility for the integrity and preservation of goods, monetary funds and other property of the pharmacy and is responsible for the quality, correctness and timeliness of drug preparation. In the latter respect, the pharmacy manager is responsible only in case of untimely or incorrect dispensing due to incorrect internal pharmacy regulations or the manager's negligence. The prescription clerk receives prescriptions from those coming to the pharmacy and is obliged to carefully read the prescription and evaluate it from the point of view of rationality of the prescription, i.e. whether the ingredients in the prescription produce an incompatible mixture from both chemical and technical preparation viewpoints. He must also pay special attention to the dosage of poisonous and potent substances in the drugs, taking into account the age of the patient. In case of any doubts, both regarding the ingredients and especially regarding the dose of poisonous and potent substances, the prescription clerk must consult with the physician. The prescription clerk is also obliged to tally the prescription according to the tariff; he is responsible for incorrect tallying (above the tariff). In pharmacies with insufficient workload for the prescription clerk, the dispensing of prepared drugs is also assigned to him. The controller checks the drug both for correctness of preparation and for quality, by external appearance, as well as (in case of doubt) chemically. The checked drug he certifies with his signature; on the signature, besides his surname, he also marks the surname of the assistant who prepared the drug. The controller is responsible for the quality of the drug, as well as for all errors and irregularities. In small pharmacies where there is not full workload, the functions of prescription clerk and controller are combined in one person. The assistant prepares drugs according to prescriptions and, after preparation, signs on the prescription. The duty of the defectarius is to promptly replenish missing preparations in the respective parts of the pharmacy, as well as to receive all goods arriving into the pharmacy's material stock. He must, upon receiving goods, be convinced of their complete quality. The presence on the goods of the stamp of the laboratory in which the goods were examined does not exempt the defectarius from the duty of general control over the goods. At his disposal are the keys to all pharmacy stocks, and he bears full responsibility for their integrity and preservation. In small pharmacies, the duties of the defectarius are usually performed by the pharmacy manager, and only in large pharmacies is there a special position of defectarius. The laboratory assistant prepares, mainly, galenical pharmaceutical preparations in stock for the pharmacy. Since the mass preparation of galenical preparations is transferred to special laboratories and factories, the position of laboratory assistant is abolished in most pharmacies. The hand clerk is in charge of dispensing medicines and goods without prescriptions from physicians, by way of manual sale, and must know well the diverse nomenclature of goods, being familiar with pharmacy drug pricing. The bookkeeper-selector manages the accounting part of the pharmacy. Besides office skills, he must be able to read prescriptions. The packer is engaged in pouring, weighing and sealing various medicines and goods, dispensed mainly by way of manual sale, working under the direction of the defectarius or laboratory assistant. At present, this work is also concentrated in warehouses and special packing departments not part of the pharmacy. In those pharmacies where the position of laboratory assistant has been preserved, as auxiliary personnel there is also a laboratory worker performing all mechanical manipulations connected with the preparation of drugs. The dish washer washes and cleans instruments and dishes for dispensing medicines. He must know how to handle dishes in which poisonous and potent drugs are prepared and have an understanding of handling poisonous substances, acids (sulfuric, hydrochloric) and fragrant substances (iodoform and others).