I am a health care professional, not a pharmacist.  While, 12 hours shift are the norm in many health care areas, the person who is working a 12 hour shift or even an 8 hour shift should not be expected to do so without a break.  Everyone, no matter how educated and professional they are need a break.  Errors are much more likely to happen if someone is tired, rushed or inattentive.  We cannot prevent every error that happens in health care but we can prevent some by taking common sense actions.  Giving a break is just common sense.  Allowing the workload to be appropriate for the staffing for any given shift, be it inpatient or out patient setting is also common sense.  Some tasks carry such a risk, that actions should be taken to make sure the person is focused on that one task and is not being asked to multi-task.  Despite people thinking that they can multi-task, the human brain can really only handle one task at a time and handle it well.  Medication errors while rare can kill or seriously injure a patient. Hopefully, this Board recognizes the need to protect the public.  (But sadly, my experiences with the DHP show that they lack common sense, judgment and integrity, just my opinoin based on my experiences. )

Thank you for this forum.