Have you ever forgotten to place a clients medication inside their paper bag? Or maybe you forgot to include their order in the first place? Between the heavy loads of paper work, long queues at the counter and the impatient customers demanding to be served first, mistakes can happen.

When it happens to me, I feel a wave of anxiety that turns into panic. Maybe this is a common situation, maybe its not. But at my counter, it happens. Sometimes I forget the pill. Other times, the patient walks away without realizing they left something behind. Either way, I’m left with a weight of guilt that echoing, you should have done better.

As someone who constantly worries about causing harm to others, I don’t take those moments lightly. I often carry them in silence, a heaviness in my chest. And when they do, I try my best to respond with care:

1. I call the client using the number I found in their charts.

2. I try to contact them on social media, not to intrude but to make sure they’re informed.

3. In worst cases, the client returns on their own to collect what was missed.

These three steps help calm the anxiety and panic attacks I experience in such situations. Often, this leads to consequences.

• A missed dose can delay treatment.
• Going back to the pharmacy is an extra burden for those who travel from distant locations.
• It highlights the company’s reputation for having low quality service.

On the other side, these moments also gives us positive reflections:

1. Humbly acknowledging my mistakes makes me grounded and accountable.

2. The Pharmacist –client relationship develops building solid foundations of trust. Clients begin to share their personal stories with me. Many remember my name and a few graciously invited me to thier family occasions.

3. These experiences push me harder to become better with my profession. They remind me to pause, review my workflow, and find small but meaningful ways to prevent similar scenarios from happening again.

This serves as an important reminder to us pharmacist that our responsibility extends beyond dispensing medications. Dedication, honesty, and accountability are essential in every transaction we have with our clients. It is imperative that we take time to provide clear and concise instructions on how to properly take each medication, explain the reasons behind the doctor’s prescription, and inform possible side effects while taking the medications and what to do if they missed the dose.

As allied health care professionals our role is indispensable in ensuring that our client understands their treatment and feel supported throughout their healing process. Recognizing that behind every prescription and transaction is a person relying on our service grounded in compassion and genuine care.

Nowadays, the society is always in a hurry and often detached, enriching our human connection can make a difference. Mistakes may happen but how we respond –with humility, accountability, and compassion lays the foundations of lasting relationships. Let us take to one’s heart our responsibility as pillars of hope and care to our society.

Reflecting on that moment-the pill I forgot to place in the client’s bag. It became a quite sacred space for reflection, a reminder that even in our routines, small lapses can carry meaning. There was a grace in forgetting, a pause that made room to ask for deeper question.

The unspoken question I now carry, one that has lingered with me lately and perhaps you too, is this:

Beyond the medicines, charts, phone calls, appointments- Am I missing something else?

I am often too consumed by the worry of forgetting the pill.

But have I taken my own? Have you taken your own?

Am I missing my own pill I try to give? Are we missing the pill we try to give?

Love, stillness, gentleness, and care for ourselves?