Specialty Pharmacy Technician I - Per Diem

About the role

At Hackensack Meridian Health, our team members are the heart of what makes us better. We help our patients live better, healthier lives and support one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are valued team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning—we also focus on how we support one another and show up for our community. Together, we advance our mission to transform healthcare and serve as a leader of positive change.

The Specialty Pharmacy Technician I plays a crucial role in ensuring the safe and accurate preparation of sterile medications for patients. You will work closely with pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to provide sterile compounding services while adhering to strict regulatory guidelines.

Responsibilities

• Prepare sterile medications, including non-hazardous intravenous (IV) admixtures and other sterile products, following established protocols and in compliance with USP standards.
• Maintain aseptic techniques throughout the compounding process to minimize contamination and ensure patient safety.
• Conduct routine cleaning, testing, and monitoring of compounding equipment, cleanrooms, and laminar airflow hoods to ensure optimal performance and adherence to quality standards.
• Manage and monitor inventory of sterile compounding drugs and supplies, ensuring adequate stock levels and proper storage conditions.
• Maintain accurate and detailed records of compounding activities, including batch records, logs, and quality control documentation.
• Collaborate effectively with pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to meet the needs of patients and ensure the timely delivery of medications.
• Adhere to all safety protocols and regulations, including personal protective equipment (PPE) use and waste disposal.
• Stay current with industry trends, guidelines, and best practices related to sterile compounding through ongoing education and training.
• Prepare uncomplicated and/or complicated parenteral mixtures for non-hazardous preparations in finished forms such as large volume, small volume, infusion syringe, infusion pump, or other modalities as required.
• Deliver controlled substances and other medications to nursing units' automated medication dispensing cabinets (ADC) timely and accurately.
• Prepare medications and subsequently load and unload medication into ADC with appropriate bar code scanning.
• Support the drug inventory process, including rotation and restocking of drug dispensing areas with drugs and supplies needed to process patient medication orders.
• Answer phones according to established phone etiquette and direct calls to the proper personnel.
• Fill controlled substance orders and reconcile all discrepancies on a daily basis.
• Fill and dispense unit dose, IV admixtures, and/or chemotherapeutic medications under the direction of pharmacists.
• Maintain all necessary paperwork, legal documents, and records for all medications prepared for administration.
• Assume responsibility for performance of job duties in the safest possible manner, ensuring personal safety and that of coworkers, and report all preventable hazards and unsafe practices immediately to management.
• Assist licensed pharmacists to formulate, label, and dispense medications and other healthcare products in accordance with regulatory requirements.
• Adhere to HMH's Organizational and Managerial competencies and standards of behavior.
• Perform other duties and/or projects as assigned.

Requirements

• High School diploma, general equivalency diploma (GED), and/or GED equivalent programs.
• Minimum 1 year of hospital or similar experience.
• Strong knowledge of aseptic techniques, USP standards, and compounding equipment.
• Knowledge of relevant regulatory requirements and compliance standards.
• Attention to detail and a commitment to maintaining a sterile environment.
• Effective communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively in a team.
• Proficiency in using software and computer applications such as EPIC.
• Strong knowledge of brand/generic medications.
• Pharmacy Technician License.
• PTCB or ExCPT Certification required within 180 days of start of employment with the following exceptions: hired prior to January 2024, actively enrolled in ACPE accredited school of pharmacy or another allied health program, or hired before 1-1-24.

Preferred Qualifications

• Minimum 1 year of sterile compounding experience.
• Certified Compounded Sterile Preparation Technician (CSPT).
• NPTA Sterile Compounding Pharmacy Tech Certification.

Working Conditions

Lifts a minimum of 5 lbs., pushes and pulls a minimum of 5 lbs., and stands a minimum of 4 hours a day.

Pay

Minimum starting rate of $25.77 per hour. The posted rate of pay is a reasonable good faith estimate of the minimum base pay for this role at the time of posting and does not reflect the full value of our market-competitive total rewards package. The base compensation determined at the time of the offer may differ based on factors including labor market data, experience, education, certifications, skills, geographic location, internal equity, budget, and grant funding.

Benefits

HMH offers a comprehensive benefits package for full-time and part-time (20+ hours/week) job positions, including:

• Health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Paid leave.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Retirement benefits.
• Eligibility for performance-based incentives, bonuses, or commissions (for certain positions).
• Shift differentials for work performed on evening, night, or weekend shifts (for certain positions).