As a 2016 graduate who has worked for a major retail chain as a pharmacy technician, intern, and signed as a future staff pharmacist. I have seen pharmacists pull thirteen hour days with no overlap or extra pharmacist help. I have seen it done successfully and done not so successfuly. I think the main issue isn't necessarily telling pharmacist that they get a 30minute break evry 6 hours... because most companies "tell" them that and to utilize their breaks, but these pharmacist sacrifice those "breaks" because they have goals, times, and script deadlines etc. imposed by their companies and non-patient customers to meet. I feel that in order to protect all pharmacists. Pharmacy's should be required to have a 2 thirty minute windows in which no prescriptions will be filled so a pharmacist can have a true break. It's hard to sit down for your lunch, when you can't stop patient from dropping off prescritions. Once they drop them off and are filled by technicians, someone has to check them. So the pharmacist who is on "break" still has to get up, run over to the counter, verify the prescriptions, and check it. But then, another patient spots the pharmacist and asks a question, needs a recommendation, the phone rings, and basically that break is over. Pharmacies should be required to shut down at least 30 minutes to 1 full hour a day for a lunch. This would give everyone a time to PAUSE and regroup. I don't believe it's the long 13 hour days that are the issue. It's pharmacist feeling that if they take that 30minute to 1 hr break that they will be so behind and can't recover for the day. It's patients and consumers not understanding that retail pharmacy is not a McDonald's restaurant we can NOT premake all their orders an just hand it to them. It's medicine and can be deadly if mixed up incorrectly or wrong drug is given to the wrong patient. 

All retail chain stores with pharmacies opperating more than 12 hours a day should be closed to the public for atleast 30 minutes to 1 hour. A lot of docotors offices have a 30 minute to 1 hour break for lunch, so the medication centers for a community should do.

Monday through Friday most retail stores are open from 8am to 9pm, these shifts are doable and if the company was required to pause for 30 minutes, what a difference that would make for the whole team. Now on weekends, there are normally sortened hours and I don't think that a mandatory shut down would be needed. But, yes, lunch breaks should be required for all pharmacists and in order to protect these pharmacist from abusing themselves while trying to meet employer goals, the companies should be held to a mandatory 30 minute or 1 hour (they can choose) lunch shutdown. This could count to their employees lunch breaks as well, so if everyone took lunch at same time it would save them from having dips in production etc. when people have to keep switching out for breaks. Everyone would win and pharmacists can still keep their flexible shifts and have a day or two off for the week if they are completing longer shifts each day.