Subp. 2.
Requirements for breaks.
A. A
pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician working longer than six
continuous hours per day shall be allowed during that time period to take a
30-minute, uninterrupted break.
B.
A pharmacist, pharmacist-intern, or pharmacy technician shall be allowed
adequate time from work within each four consecutive hours of work to utilize
the nearest convenient restroom.
C.
A pharmacy may, but is not required to, close when a pharmacist is on a break.
If the pharmacy does not close, the pharmacist shall either remain within the
licensed pharmacy or within the establishment in which the licensed pharmacy is
located in order to be available for emergencies. In addition, the following
apply:
(1) pharmacy technicians,
pharmacist-interns, and other supportive staff, authorized by the pharmacist on
duty, may continue to perform duties as allowed under this chapter;
(2) no duties reserved to pharmacists and
pharmacist-interns under any part of this chapter, or that require the
professional judgment of a pharmacist, may be performed by pharmacy technicians
or other supportive staff; and
(3)
only prescriptions that have been certified by a pharmacist, as required by
part
6800.3100, may be dispensed while
the pharmacist is on break; except that prescriptions that require counseling
by a pharmacist, including all new prescriptions and those refill prescriptions
for which a pharmacist has determined that counseling is necessary, may be
dispensed only if the following conditions are met:
(a) the pharmacy develops a list of drugs
that may not be dispensed while a pharmacist is taking an allowed break,
without the patient receiving counseling from a pharmacist, when counseling
would normally be required;
(b) the
patient, or other individual who is picking up the prescription on behalf of
the patient, is told that the pharmacist is on a break and is offered the
chance to wait until the pharmacist returns from break in order to receive
counseling;
(c) if the patient or
caregiver declines to wait, a telephone number at which the patient or a
caregiver can be reached is obtained;
(d) after returning from the break, the
pharmacist makes a reasonable effort to contact the patient or a caregiver by
telephone and provides counseling; and
(e) the pharmacist documents the counseling
that was provided or documents why counseling was not provided, including a
description of the efforts made to contact the patient or caregiver. The
documentation shall be retained by the pharmacy, and be made available for
inspection by the board or its authorized representatives, for a period of at
least two years.
D. In pharmacies staffed by two or more
pharmacists, the pharmacists shall stagger breaks so that at least one
pharmacist remains on duty at all times that the pharmacy remains open for the
transaction of business.
