Ethics and professionalism CPD for health practitioners in Australia [email protected]
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Online course · Australia

Professionalism and Professional Standards for Pharmacists

Professional Practice Standards, Dispensing Safety and Accountability

  • About 2 hours
  • 15 scenario questions
  • Reflective account
  • Certificate of completion
  • Online, self-paced

About this course

The Pharmacy Board's guidelines on the safe provision of pharmacy services replace several older guidelines from 1 October 2026, and they change how professional responsibility is described. This course explains the new framework and what it means for dispensing, supervision, services and accountability.

The course starts with who sets pharmacy standards and how the new safe provision guidelines reorganise them, and clarifies the difference between professionalism and ethics. Dispensing safety follows: valid prescriptions, clinical review, errors and near misses, open disclosure, workload and staffing, and supervising interns, technicians and assistants.

Further sections cover proprietors, pharmacists in charge and leadership, dose administration aids and staged supply, clinical governance, defining your scope, pharmacist prescribing and expanded programs, and roles in hospitals, aged care and general practice. Communication, informed choice, privacy and record-keeping are covered together.

The closing sections deal with CPD and recency, health and impairment, complaints and notifications, advertising and promotion, online, delivery and telehealth services, and respectful workplaces. You finish with a reflective account to keep with your CPD records.

What you will learn

  • Find your way around the Pharmacy Board documents, including the safe provision guidelines
  • Check that a prescription is valid and record the clinical review you made before supplying
  • Reduce dispensing errors, tell patients when one happens and learn from near misses
  • Keep workload safe and supervise interns, technicians and pharmacy assistants properly
  • Bring governance to services such as dose administration aids and staged supply
  • Define your scope before taking on prescribing, vaccination or work in a new setting
  • Meet CPD, recency and health obligations and keep records you would be happy to show the Board

Who this course is for

  • Pharmacists working in community, hospital or aged care settings
  • Pharmacists in charge, proprietors and managers
  • Intern pharmacists and preceptors
  • Pharmacists moving into prescribing, aged care or general practice roles
  • Pharmacists returning to practice after a break

How the course works

  1. After checkout the course is added to My Courses in your account, so you can start straight away on any device with a modern browser.

  2. Move through 7 sections (22 lessons in total) in your own time; lessons open in sequence and the player remembers where you stopped on that device.

  3. Each section ends with key points and prompts for reflection. Your notes can be downloaded as a Word course pack or printed for your portfolio.

  4. Sit the 15-question assessment at the end. Score 80% or more (12 of 15) to pass; answer options are reshuffled if you retake.

  5. Complete the reflective account and feedback to finish. Your certificate of completion shows the estimated learning time (about 2 hours), and you record the time you actually spend in your CPD log.

Course content

8 sections · About 2 hours · 15-question final assessment

1The Framework for Pharmacy Professionalism3 lessons
  • Who Sets the Standards
  • The New Safe Provision Guidelines
  • Professionalism Versus Ethics
2Dispensing Safety and Accountability4 lessons
  • Valid Prescriptions and Clinical Review
  • Errors, Near Misses and Open Disclosure
  • Workload, Staffing and Safe Practice
  • Supervising Interns, Technicians and Assistants
3Leadership, Management and Professional Services3 lessons
  • Proprietors, Pharmacists in Charge and Leadership
  • Dose Administration Aids, Staged Supply and Other Services
  • Clinical Governance in the Pharmacy
4Scope of Practice and Expanding Roles3 lessons
  • Defining Your Scope
  • Pharmacist Prescribing and Expanded Programs
  • Hospital, Aged Care and General Practice Roles
5Communication, Informed Choice, Privacy and Records3 lessons
  • Supporting Informed Patient Choice
  • Confidentiality and Privacy in Pharmacy
  • Records That Stand Up to Scrutiny
6CPD, Recency, Health and Accountability3 lessons
  • CPD and Recency of Practice
  • Health, Impairment and Support
  • Notifications, Complaints and Accountability
7Professional Conduct Beyond the Dispensary3 lessons
  • Advertising and Promotion
  • Online, Delivery and Telehealth Services
  • Respectful Workplaces and Professional Behaviour
8Conclusion, Final Assessment and Reflection4 lessons
  • Conclusion and key points
  • References and quick-reference guide
  • Final assessment (15 questions, 80% pass mark)
  • Your reflective account

Assessment and certificate

  • Certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time (about 2 hours); record the time you actually spend.
  • A written reflective account you can keep with your CPD records.

Questions about this course

Which guidelines do the safe provision guidelines replace?

They take over from four older sets of Board guidelines, including those on dispensing and on dose administration aids, from 1 October 2026. The course explains what carries over and what is new.

Does it help pharmacists in charge?

Yes. A section covers proprietors, pharmacists in charge and leadership responsibilities, including workload, staffing and clinical governance in the pharmacy.

Is online and delivery pharmacy covered?

Yes. A lesson looks at professional standards for online orders, home delivery and telehealth-linked services.

Does it replace reading the guidelines themselves?

No. It explains and applies them, but you should read the current Pharmacy Board documents, which take precedence over any course.

What evidence do I get when I finish?

You receive a certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time, and you can download a course pack holding your learning record, a revision sheet and your own reflections. Your CPD log should show the time you actually spend.

Does completing the course satisfy a condition or undertaking?

Not automatically. Where a Board has set education as a condition or undertaking, the course usually has to be nominated and accepted first, so check with Ahpra or the Board, and your legal adviser or defence organisation, before you enrol.

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