The Human Element: Building Relationships and Empathy in a Busy Pharmacy

The modern pharmacy is a high-volume and high-stress environment. Pharmacy technicians must manage expanding roles, staffing shortages, aggressive volume and speed metrics, and administrative hurdles along with constant interruptions. This often comes at a cost to human connection.

The human element is not an extra in pharmacy; it is a clinical tool. When patients feel seen and heard, they are more likely to trust their treatment, adhere to their medication regimens, and achieve more positive health outcomes.¹ To prioritize patient care in high-volume pharmacies, technicians must go beyond technical accuracy and implement practical, patient-centered communication strategies that personalize the pharmacy experience.

The Human Element

In a high-speed pharmacy, the human element is the intentional effort to treat the patient with dignity, respect, and personalization. It is the soft layer of care that enhances the patient’s experience. Below are key tools to use with each patient.

Ask open-ended questions. Open-ended questions, ones that cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, shift the conversation from a checklist to a dialogue. This ensures the patient feels heard and highlights potential safety issues or misunderstandings.

Use active listening. This is the practice of fully focusing on not only the patient’s words but also their tone and body language. Maintaining eye contact and nodding indicate to the patient that they have your full attention.

Foster warm interactions. Tactical communication habits, such as using humor, compliments, or small talk, can reduce friction, ease anxiety, and build trust. This fosters a therapeutic relationship, influencing patient psychology.²

Shift perspective. When the perspective of a prescription to be filled is shifted to a person to be helped, the interaction shifts from transactional to person-centered. Person-centered care means treating patients in a personalized, coordinated, and enabled manner.³

Avoid interruptions. This includes interrupting the patient or the encounter as well as internal multitasking. This indicates you value the patient’s input, thereby increasing their willingness to follow your advice.⁴

Overcoming Barriers

Barriers to human connection must be identified and neutralized. These barriers can be physical, psychological, or environmental and prevent meaningful patient dialogue.

First, identify environmental and technological barriers, such as promotional displays on the counter, masks or face shields, and high background noise. All of these can limit clear communication, leaving patients feeling uncertain.

Be mindful of using the computer during patient interactions. It is difficult to simultaneously engage in active listening and look for data on a computer screen. Patients are often left watching the pharmacy technician searching the screen, leading to patients feeling like an interruption rather than the reason for the search.

Internal and psychological barriers on the part of both patients and pharmacy staff can also block the human effect. Implicit bias and prejudice thrive in fast-paced environments, where split-second judgments are often made about health literacy and adherence based on age, race, socioeconomic status, or previous encounters. Giving yourself a 3-second mental pause before engaging with the patient can allow reengagement of active listening skills and the realization that the patient is the expert in their own life.

Furthermore, patient anxiety from a new diagnosis, complex medication regimen, or general health care stress alters patient interaction at the pharmacy. This can lead to impaired decision-making, feelings of frustration and/or aggression, and communication barriers. Low health literacy can add to this anxiety and/or be affected by this anxiety.

Implementing Relational Solutions

Patient-centered culture is paramount to effective connection. Patient relationships with pharmacy technicians are built on consistent continuity of care. Predictability in high-stress situations eases anxiety.

Strong relationships recognize that health care is very personal. Adapting language and expectations to the patient’s health literacy level imparts the patient with autonomy. Respecting a patient’s cultural beliefs regarding medication adds a sense of being understood and cared for.

Finally, strong relationships have positive outcomes. Pharmacy technicians act as a final safety net, as they know the patient’s lifestyle or literacy level, allowing them to catch mistakes and/or recognize that the patient is confused. Strong relationships are also burnout buffers. When patients are allies, work feels more meaningful and fulfilling.

About the Author

Kathleen Kenny, PharmD, RPh, earned her doctoral degree from the University of Colorado Anschutz in Aurora. She has more than 30 years of experience as a community pharmacist and works as a clinical medical writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

REFERENCES

1. Gettman D. The pervasive role of empathy, confirmation, and compassion in pharmacy practice: a 2019 perspective for Health Communications, Diversity and Bioethics. Presented at: Health Communications, Diversity, and Bioethics (PMD610); February 2019; Buffalo, NY. Accessed May 21, 2026.

2. Booth-Butterfield M, Wanzer M. Humor in interpersonal communication. In: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. Oxford University Press; 2018. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.660

3. Coulter A, Oldham J. Person-centred care: what is it and how do we get there? Future Hosp J. 2016;3(2):114-116. doi:10.7861/futurehosp.3-2-114

4. Allinson M, Chaar B. How to demonstrate empathy and compassion in a pharmacy setting. Pharmaceutical Journal. April 26, 2019. Accessed May 19, 2026. https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/ld/how-to-demonstrate-empathy-and-compassion-in-a-pharmacy-setting

5. Yeh J, Ostini R. The impact of health literacy environment on patient stress: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2020;20(1):749. doi:10.1186/s12889-020-08649-x