I am in a similar position to you. Fortunately i have not been fired but my scripts are being checked by the other pharmacist before being handed out. I too have trouble focusing at work and even when i double and triple check my work i somehow make a mistake. My boss has told me that he thinks i have ADD. Had i not been so open to what he was telling me and had he not seen that i was taking steps for myself to try to improve and fix the problem, he would have easily fired me. Also had he not found me to be a nice/polite person who he otherwise enjoyed working with and someone who got along with staff and customers, he would have fired me. He also said that if i was to look for work elsewhere, he would not be able to give a good reference because he is legally obliged to tell other pharmacists his concerns for my accuracy when dispensing.
I find my work environment quite stressful too but I feel that would be the case with any work place. The most important thing is your attitude at work. I work with a 70yr old pharmacist who treats me like an assistant and when she gets stressed she would tell me off like i am a child. Other staff members as well as some customers have complained about this. It is just the way she is. The most important thing you can do is get along with your staff. So she tells me off, i will let her and i will do what i can to help her. I try to ignore the fact that she thinks i am incompetent and i ask her qs and try to get along with her regardless. Kill them with kindness. You dont have to tell everyone you work with about your person life..all you have to do is be kind, nice, polite and try to go out of your way to help your staff with anything you have the power to do. They will respect/like you for that. Also bring in food to share with your co-workers and given the chance ask them about themselves, remember their stories and follow up on qs to them. The nicer you are to other people, the nicer they will be to you. I would say i am very quiet at work but when i do talk i would make the effort to always say something positive and make other people feel good about themselves. People like hanging around those who make them feel good about themselves. Of course there's not point being nice if you aren't competent with pharmacy knowledge. If you are lacking in drug knowledge, study. Download apps on your phone and read/study when you can. For me its the ride to and from work. Im always reading up on/making new notes on my phone to make sure i am always up to date with info and also to refresh my memory. If you are having trouble dispensing, look at the way you dispense, create a protocol for dispensing/checking and ASK for help from other pharmacists. Ask them what they do. Make notes for yourself and create protocols/procedures for yourself to minimise errors. If you are having trouble counselling patients, maybe you need to go back to basics, look up the counselling protocols they taught you in uni. If you ask the right questions, listen and know your drugs interactions, adr, counselling points, you shouldn't have any trouble counselling patients. Also keep in mind you are no different to any other pharmacist who got through pharmacy school. The fact that you got through pharmacy with great marks means you are smart, competent and just as capable as any other pharmacist. If you dont know something dont panic. We are all human and after all we can go to our academic resources in the pharmacy and Dr. google to double check. Its always better to double check something if you are unsure. Dont be afraid to use resources available in the pharmacy to get all the info you need to counsel well..it doesnt mean you are a bad pharmacist..we all do it. If there is something you dont know, always look it up. The more you do this, the more you will learn and the more you will retain. Im always making little notes for myself and tucking it away in my uniform. Aside from my dispensing errors which is due to lack of focus, my boss has told me that 90% of everything else i do as a pharmacist is perfect...unfortunately in our line of work, accuracy issues can have detrimental effects so i am now taking steps to address that. Until i am completely confident in my dispensing i am making sure all my work gets checked by the other pharmacist before it goes out.
I am currently seeing a GP, taking blood tests and seeing a psychologist to see what is wrong with me and screen for ADD which is what my boss suggested i may have. I highly suggest that you do the same before finding any job. The most important thing you can do for a job interview is be confident. The interviewer can sense your confidence in the interview and if you don't come across confident then you don't come across competent. So if you are not feeling confident don't look for work. Go travel, focus on building your social skills by maybe joining a travel group e.g. contiki, or sports team/volunteer work, build your social network, open up to your friends for support, do what you can so you have people to talk to. You need a support network. If you don't have one, build one. I suggest travel because maybe even being at home isn't the best for you. I purposely chose to go to a pharmacy school in a regional/rural university so i could move out of home, live with other students and force myself to learn to talk to talk to people and eventually i overcame my fear of talking.
What you need to do now is focus on yourself. Take blood tests, see a psychologist, open up to friends (esp pharmacy friends), make friends, travel, and when you feel confident then look for work. In your resume dont put down employers who you think will give you a bad reference. You only need one or 2. You can put down a university lecturer, a pharmacy friend, etc. If your resume, like mine, isnt all that great, then you need to kill it in the interview like i had. First impressions are the most important. Go into pharmacies with your resume, ask if they are hiring and if so see if you could see the boss in person and talk to them there and then. If they are not there, ask when they will be in. I got myself a job interview this way before without them even looking at my resume.
They say success is based on who you know, not what you know. Ie. hone your people skills, and learn to be really likeable because if you are, people will always want to help you. There are videos on youtube to help you out e.g. "charisma on command"...learn to be likeable = nice + competent..
