I Quit Pharmacy Because of a Toilet

I often get the question,"what made you want to leave Pharmacy?"

To be completely transparent, there was a plethora of things. But I remember the exact moment that pushed me over the edge. And I know this because it was immortalised in a single Instagram story, which means I have the privilege of looking back and reflecting on how far I've come.

Let me set the scene.

I was locuming at a Pharmacy. It had already been a long day, constantly going, no time to sit down, no time for a drink. I'd told the team I needed to take a call between 1 and 2pm. Ten minutes. It was my doctor, with results on a minor kidney issue, one that had actually been traced back to the chronic dehydration from my Pharmacy shifts. When the time came, I was alone on the floor, dispensing and checking to keep the ever-growing queue down.

I missed the call.

That hit me. I was spending my days caring for everyone else, and couldn't even care for myself as a result.

Then I got a rare chance to break away and go to the toilets, and that's when I saw it. I was absolutely horrified. But honestly? I wasn't even shocked. Because this was a common theme. Most Pharmacy toilets looked exactly like this. Rundown. Unkept. Forgotten.

And there's actually science behind what I felt in that moment. Research shows that our physical environment has a direct impact on our wellbeing, productivity and how we perform, numerous studies have consistently demonstrated that characteristics of the physical office environment can have a significant effect on behaviour, perceptions and productivity of employees. ScienceDirect So it wasn't just me being dramatic. The environment we're in shapes us, whether we realise it or not.

Standing in that toilet, I realised this place was not built for me to thrive, it was built for me to survive. And that shabbiness spilled into everything else. The culture, the conditions, how people were treated. It was deep in the infrastructure.

The toilets, I know - jump scare!

So I did something. Instead of falling into the cycle of complaining, which is so easy to do and honestly so tempting, I sat down and wrote out everything I wanted from a career. I wanted to be excited to go to work. I wanted to take a lunch break. I wanted to use the bathroom when I needed to. I wanted a safe environment where colleagues weren't being harassed by customers. And I wanted a nice toilet, because to me, that had become a symbol of a workplace that actually valued its people.

That became my north star.

The story post I made...in 2022

And as you already know from my stories, let me show you my toilets now. 🚽✨

This is just a reminder: don't become numb to the nudging your soul gives you when it knows it's not in the right environment. Acknowledge the feeling. Paint a picture of what you do want. And work your butt off to get there, because I promise you, it will be worth it.

Keep dreaming,

Ruth 🤍