Interpersonal Communication In Pharmacists

Contrary to popular belief, pharmacists don’t just sit behind a counter in the back of the pharmacy counting pills all day. Pharmacists play an important role in today’s society as counselors and teachers, and anyone who has ever been to counseling or school knows communication is a key factor in these fields. Pharmacists must be fluent in all types of communication in order to be successful. A pharmacist’s job is to communicate to patients, healthcare practitioners, and the community vital information and advice (Wallman). Potential pharmacists go through communication training in pharmacy school where they learn how to be effective in each type of communication. The three most important forms of communication pharmacists use everyday are

Three skills pharmacists must have when it comes to interpersonal communication are negotiation, persuasion, and conflict resolution (“Pharmacists”). In both pharmacies and hospitals, physicians tend to disagree on how best to handle a situation. A pharmacist must be able to listen and understand all sides of a conflict and be able to find a resolution. Typically this requires working with the parties involved in the conflict and coming to an end that satisfies everyone involved. This can be quite difficult, but with the skill of persuasion, pharmacists should be able to convince both parties to change their behaviour in order to make a compromise work. Pharmacists oversee everyone in the pharmacy and therefore must be able to communicate with their subordinates appropriately and efficiently (“What Pharmacists Do”). It is their job to facilitate a good relationship between all their coworkers in order for the pharmacy to run smoothly and resolve any issues that may come up (Christakis 1,3). Pharmacists interactions through interpersonal communication keeps the workplace running smoothly. My overall academic and working experiences in the past have prepared me to be an