Aimee Kohler earns a Technician Initiative award for her efforts to improve safety standards in compounding

Why she wonWhen her employer offered pharmacy technician Aimee Kohler an opportunity to lead a massive change management initiative across its compounding facilities, she jumped at the chance. Under her guidance, all of Horizon Health’s eight compounding facilities in New Brunswick are implementing NAPRA’s latest guidelines around non-sterile compounding and standardizing their practices across the board. Kohler created a regional database of risk assessment and master formulas for non-sterile compounding, as well as a regional chart for sterile compounding. She is also working with a team to help design compounding facilities that meet NAPRA standards, creating policies and procedures to support the implementation of safer compounding practices.In taking on such a huge endeavor, her nominator said Kohler demonstrated “exceptional leadership skills by empowering her team to find solutions and work collaboratively to create a safer working environment.” She also worked with several community pharmacies to implement NAPRA’s non-sterile compounding standards, outside of Horizon.Kohler has been recognized by groups such as the Canadian Association of Pharmacy Technicians, where she spoke at their annual conference on the topic of pharmacy technician leadership in the workplace. She continues to hone her leadership skills via various training and certification initiatives. Kohler received her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt in Healthcare in 2022—a problem-solving framework certification for improving work processes—and aims to complete her black belt.Watch Aimee’s video describing her work below:Q&A: What’s your favourite part of your job? Learning new things, working to create a safer environment for staff and ensuring consistent and quality medications for our patients. I am passionate about change management and process improvement. Being able to deep dive into pharmacy standards and work towards compliance has been very satisfying. What advice would you give a young pharmacy tech? Take all the opportunities that come your way. Offer to help out with projects, precept students and learn as much as you can! Data show that engaged employees are happier and more successful in their careers. Recent advancements in the profession mean there will be endless opportunities to do meaningful work that you enjoy. What’s your most effective way to combat stress? Different kinds of exercise, depending on how my body and mind are feeling. I may grab a yoga mat, some weights or put on my sneakers and go for a walk or run. I keep stress as low as possible by eating healthy foods and practising mindfulness.Is there a mentor or role model who has inspired you in your career? I went into a coordinator role with more than 10 years of experience as a pharmacy assistant and had recently become a Registered Pharmacy Technician. Holly Glennie, my manager, soon had me presenting to nursing staff on pharmacy processes, working reports in our pharmacy information system, building drug files in the automated packager software, leading a team of technicians and assistants and much more. I was excited to take on these new opportunities and always knew she was there to support me. This role is where my confidence in the work I was doing began.I worked closely with Chrystal Allen, a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt, as she guided the department through process mapping and then through several small changes to improve efficiencies. This is where my passion for process improvement and change management came from. And Julie Levesque has mentored me over the last couple of years in my role as acting compounding supervisor. Is there something you’d like to try next in your career? While I am open to exploring new opportunities, I’m quite content with the work I’m doing. At this point, I feel I am making a difference and enjoy what I do. I can’t ask for much more than that. Describe your perfect day off. I’d wake up early to do some sort of exercise and have a bit of quiet time with coffee. The rest of my perfect day would be spent in the woods, canoeing, paddleboarding, camping or hiking with my family. You can read about all the 2023 winners here.If reading these stories makes you think of someone you know who’s deserving of an award (including perhaps, yourself?), you can sign up to be notified when the entry process opens for 2024 by filling out this form.

Aimee Kohler earns a Technician Initiative award for her efforts to improve safety standards in compounding

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