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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Pharmacy assistants are faced with all sorts e of workplace stressors and pressures, all of
which have an impact on emotional health
and wellbeing. This month, Retail Pharmacy
Assistants’ Margaret Mielczarek speaks with Allie Xu, a pharmacist who, because of her burnout experience, is on a mission to help pharmacy staff increase emotional intelligence to “be happier and healthier” and to “perform better and create a business and life they love”.
How did you come to work in the emotional intelligence space?
I’ve been working as a pharmacist for 10 years in both hospital and community settings. I was stressed, had a lot of fear – fear of not being good enough or not knowing enough, fear of making mistakes, fear of judgement. I didn’t know what to do with stress and anxiety and how to get rid of them. I was frustrated and angry and lost my zest for life.
By the time I recognised the fact that I was under chronic stress, I was burnt out and diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. I had no choice but to quit my full-time job and begin my journey of healing. After hiring numerous coaches and therapists,
I’ve realised how relevant emotional intelligence
is. Not only does it determine our performance and financial intelligence, but it also affects our health.
How have you personally found ensuring
emotional intelligence as part of your practice as
a pharmacist? How has it enhanced your practice? Increasing emotional intelligence has improved
my understanding of my own emotions and my capacity when it comes to stress. I can access
my emotions and stress levels and call for help or redirect my feelings. At the same time, I learnt to set boundaries and to say no to extra overtime and tasks, to protect me from burnout. Because of increasing self-awareness and self-regulation in stressful situations, I can now pay more attention to customers’ needs and emotions, to collect both verbal and non-verbal information and provide more value and establish lasting relationships.
So, what is emotional intelligence? Why is it important for pharmacy assistants?
Pharmacists are intelligent individuals who did well
at schools and universities and continually learnt
and acquired new information, knowledge, research. We’re all ‘book smart’ with a high IQ (intelligence quotient). However, to be successful in this world, we need to be ‘street smart’ and develop high emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ).
Psychology Today describes emotional intelligence as: “The ability to accurately identify your own emotions, as well as those of others. The ability to utilise emotions and apply them to tasks, like thinking and problem-solving. The ability to manage emotions, including controlling your own, as well as the ability to
high on
scoringq
RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • JUL 2020