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

Ethics and Ethical Standards for Pharmacists

Applying the Pharmacy Board's Code to Supply, Advice and Conflicts

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

About this course

Pharmacists make ethical decisions in public, at a counter, often in under a minute and sometimes with a queue watching. This course gives pharmacists a short, practical decision model and applies it to the supply, conscience and commercial dilemmas that define community and hospital pharmacy in Australia.

After setting out why pharmacy ethics is distinctive, the course introduces core principles and a decision model built for the counter. It then applies them to Pharmacist Only and Pharmacy Medicines, prescriptions that raise concerns, emergency and continued supply, and the line between harm reduction and enabling misuse.

Further sections cover respecting autonomy and informed choice, conscientious objection, equity and cultural safety, the tension between the profession and the business, targets and promotions, closed loops and exclusive arrangements, gifts and industry relationships, confidentiality at an open counter, honesty after a dispensing error and speaking up about colleagues, employers and prescribers.

The last section looks ahead to expanding roles: what changes when the same pharmacist prescribes and supplies, vaccination and misinformation, and how to build ethical resilience. A reflective account closes the course.

What you will learn

  • Explain why pharmacists face ethical questions that other professions do not, and where guidance comes from
  • Use a quick decision model when a supply decision has to be made in front of the patient
  • Say no to a sale or a prescription with tact, and follow up when a script looks unsafe
  • Respect a patient's choice while being straight with them about what the evidence shows
  • Handle a conscience-based refusal without leaving the person unable to obtain the medicine
  • See through sales targets, promotions and closed-loop arrangements that compromise advice
  • Keep confidences at a busy counter, own dispensing errors and speak up about unsafe practice

Who this course is for

  • Pharmacists in community practice, including pharmacists in charge
  • Hospital and clinical pharmacists
  • Intern pharmacists and their preceptors
  • Pharmacists taking on prescribing, vaccination or other expanded services
  • Pharmacy owners and managers who set targets and promotions

How the course works

  1. Once you enrol, open the course from My Courses whenever it suits you. It runs in your browser on desktop or mobile, with nothing to install.

  2. Read 20 lessons grouped into 6 sections. Each lesson unlocks when you finish the one before, and your progress is kept in your browser between visits.

  3. Pause on the worked scenarios and reflection prompts. Anything you type is kept in your course pack, which you can download in Word format or print to PDF.

  4. Complete the final assessment of 15 scenario-based questions with a pass mark of 80% (12 of 15). Retakes are allowed.

  5. After the reflective account and feedback, the course is marked complete in your account and your certificate of completion becomes available. It states the estimated learning time (about 2 hours); log the time you actually spend.

Course content

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

1Ethics in Pharmacy Practice3 lessons
  • Why Pharmacy Ethics Is Distinctive
  • Core Principles Applied to Pharmacy
  • A Decision Model for the Pharmacy Counter
2Supply Decisions: Judgement at the Counter4 lessons
  • Pharmacist Only and Pharmacy Medicines: The Ethics of Saying No
  • Prescriptions That Raise Concerns
  • Compassion and Rules: Emergency and Continued Supply
  • Misuse, Dependence and Harm Reduction
3Autonomy, Conscience and Access3 lessons
  • Respecting Autonomy and Informed Choice
  • Conscientious Objection
  • Equity, Access and Cultural Safety
4Conflicts of Interest and Commercial Pressures4 lessons
  • The Professional and the Business
  • Targets, Promotions and Honest Advice About Evidence
  • Closed Loops, Exclusive Arrangements and New Models of Care
  • Gifts, Hospitality and Industry Relationships
5Confidentiality, Honesty and Trust3 lessons
  • Confidentiality at an Open Counter
  • Honesty When Things Go Wrong
  • Speaking Up About Colleagues, Employers and Prescribers
6Expanding Roles, New Dilemmas3 lessons
  • Prescribing and Supplying: When One Person Does Both
  • Vaccination, Public Health and Misinformation
  • Moral Distress and Ethical Resilience
7Conclusion, 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

Is this course relevant to hospital pharmacists?

Yes. Many examples are set in community pharmacy, but the decision model, conflicts of interest, confidentiality and error disclosure lessons apply equally to hospital and clinical roles.

Does it deal with pharmacist prescribing?

Yes. A lesson examines the ethical safeguards needed when one person both prescribes and supplies, and how to manage the commercial and clinical pressures that can follow.

What does it say about conscientious objection?

It explains what the Code of conduct expects: you may decline on conscience grounds, but you must not obstruct access, you should tell the person where they can obtain the medicine, and some state laws add specific duties.

How is it different from the pharmacist professionalism course?

This course focuses on ethical reasoning and values. The professionalism course covers the Board's practice standards, the safe provision guidelines, dispensing systems, supervision and CPD.

How should I record this course in my CPD log?

Log the date, the course name and the time you actually spend; the certificate shows only the estimated learning time. Add two or three lines on what you will do differently, and file the certificate next to your reflective account.

Who runs this course?

Probity Courses, an education provider with no affiliation to Ahpra, the National Boards or any regulator. Your Board's own codes and guidelines always take precedence over course material.

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