Forum Pregnant and working

Pharmacy assistant

15 replies

Dunja
Hey everyone, are there any other moms here who work in a pharmacy? I'm now 8 weeks pregnant and starting to slowly panic about meds, etc. around me. It's not a compounding pharmacy, but I'm wondering how much I'm allowed to touch medication strips, etc., and what's safe and what's not. Who oh who can ease my anxiety?! I'm going to tell them at work tomorrow instead of waiting until 12 weeks because I don't want to put myself and the little one in danger. Please help me out of this uncertainty.

Replies

  1. Poesh #2

    I'm an assistant too.
    Don't worry! You're allowed to handle the medication in packaging.
    We also prepare some things here, but there are some you can just make, others where you need to be more careful, and some you're not allowed to touch at all.
    So don't worry and enjoy your pregnancy!

  2. Jitti Guest #3

    What exactly are you afraid of? Medication in strips can't really do any harm, you know!

  3. Dunja started this #4

    Thanks for your reply! No, I mean more the idea: if I have to break open a Ritalin bottle instead of 90, do I then have to hand over 30, for example, and put that in another bottle? Something like that. I'm already happy you've answered! So filling it out can't do any harm, or does it depend on something? I think you inhale it or something! I know it doesn't sound logical at all, but I'm so anxious about all the bad things you hear about nowadays.. Kind regards

  4. Dunja started this #5

    I did wash my hands thoroughly, especially before eating or something like that.

  5. Poesh #6

    No, that can't do any harm.
    If you have to crush and process them, then maybe yes. But even Rilatin shouldn't cause too much harm.
    You do need to be careful with isotretinoin and metronidazole. So if you have a specialty in those, or finasteride... then you can let a colleague handle it. But otherwise, it certainly can't do any harm!

  6. Dunja started this #7

    Thank you! You have no idea how much stress you've taken off my mind! Really, I feel so much calmer! And congratulations on your pregnancy, by the way! Warm regards

  7. Anonymous Guest #8

    Can you really mix antibiotics with water? I'm pregnant too and want to keep it to myself for now. Greetings!

  8. Poesh #9

    Yes, that's allowed.

  9. Tamara Guest #10

    Are you an assistant or not... then you should know those kinds of things yourself, right? Pfff

  10. Anonymous Guest #11

    When in doubt, just wear gloves, I do that too in community nursing.

  11. Anonymous Guest #12

    Water isn't a chemical substance... of course you can use it to dilute things. You can also use alcohol in small amounts, preferably with gloves (by the way, I think you'd be wearing gloves anyway if you're making medicines in the pharmacy or transferring them to other jars, etc.).

    It's just a bit of panic over nothing. Only if you really work in chemistry or with chloroform and pure chemicals should you have as little contact with them as possible during your pregnancy. But if you work in a pharmacy, I'd think you'd have some background knowledge about chemicals anyway...

  12. Ijsje123 #13

    When you're pregnant, you start overthinking things like this extra hard. And even though deep down you know the chance is super small, you still end up doubting everything. At times like that, it's really nice to get some reassurance from other assistants. So comments like "Are you an assistant or not?" or other remarks like that are a bit misplaced...

    Congratulations on your little one ^^

  13. Anonymous Guest #14

    I’m a pharmacy assistant in a hospital and do a lot of compounding. There’s an online list of hazardous substances you can always check. Then there are sites like Lareb.nl where you can find a lot of info, and on the KNMP site you can check per medication whether you’re allowed to powder it or not. Antibiotics are something you really need to be careful with, okay!

    I have to say I used to think quite lightly about it; during my first two pregnancies I just went ahead and compounded and mostly kept doing what I was doing. My first daughter has only one kidney, and my second daughter was born at 20 weeks and didn’t survive. So I’m very cautious now and wouldn’t compound, powder, or split medications for anything! (Alcohol used for cleaning is also toxic!)

  14. Mieke Guest #15

    I'm also a pharmacy assistant and have a son with a metabolic disorder. When I found out I was pregnant, I confided in a colleague, and she went through some treatments to prevent him from developing immunity to it. I'd do the same now... Because this could be very important for him.

  15. Talli78 #16

    I'm also currently pregnant and dealing with a lot of risky preparations, like cytostatics and RIFAS class 5 substances. But all of these are made in a safety cabinet, which means you're as protected as possible.

    I'm still waiting a bit before I tell anyone. It feels a bit too early yet. And if you work properly, you shouldn't be exposed to anything at all. It would be crazy to take that risk, regardless of whether you're pregnant or not. Of course, you definitely don't want to take that risk when you're pregnant...

    You can look everything up on Rifas.nl. And anything with a red background color, you should be careful with or preferably avoid as a pregnant person.

Add your reply

Share what helped you, or ask a question.

Sign in to join the conversation.

Continue with Google

Takes a moment. You’ll come straight back here to reply.