Lecture 17: Pharmacy Ethics Flashcards
What are values?
Those ideals, beleifs, attitudes and characteristics considered to be valuable and worthwhile by an individual, group or society
What is morality?
Concerned with the standards of right and wrong behaviour, the values and duties adopted by individuals, groups or societies
What is ethics?
Concerned with evaluating practices, what is right and wrong, good and bad, what ought and ought not to be done
What are the 4 ethical principles?
Autonomy: self governance and respect for persons
Non-maleficence, avoiding harm
Beneficense: providing good
Justice: fairness
What are ethical theories?
They provide a framework within which the acceptability of avtions and morality of judgements can be assessed,
What are the normative theories of ethical theories?
Virtu ethics
Consequentialist
Deontological
What are the principles of the code of ethics?
Autonomy Beneficence Non maleficence Justice Spirit of enquiry Integrity Trustworthiness Dignity Co-operation Compassion
What is the code of ethics?
A vision for best practice
Aspirational goals for the profession
Framework for outlining practice standards
Defines behaviour norms that are acceptable or not
Publicly proclaimed benchmark for standards of professional conduct
What is the role of the code of ethics?
Primary role is to outline principles that underpin the practice of pharmacy and provide guidance on what is satisfactory practice on issues that are fundamental to performance of professional duties
Personal and professional autonomy is not usurped by a code of ethics, individuals take responsibility for the particular decisions they take but do so with reference to the framework of values determined collectively
What is the relationship between ethics and pharmacy
There are legal, ethical and professional implications to every decision and action taken by a pharmacist
Health professions articulate their professions values and standards of conduct and rights and responsibilities of their members in an ethical code
Codes exist to encourage optimal behaviour and identify ethical principles and the values, attitudes and behaviours that characterise a pharmacist
What is a conflict of interest?
Non moral personal interests or,
Inappropriate business or professional interests that conflict with the appropriate interests of the patient to be taken into account, regardless of whether or not the presence of those competing interests affects your judgement
What are the pharmacists ethical responsibilities?
Respect for the patient
Respect for the profession and professionalism
Respect for other professions
Respect for professional expertise/duties
Respect for society and community health
Why do we study ethics?
So we can consider different perspectives to respect others and different needs of others
It helps professional developement, make professional judgements and decisions
Helps to analyse actions and consequences of those decisions
Ethical principles serve as a stimulus to identify ethical conflicts and aid decision making
Pharmacists have a responsibility to work ethically. personal standards, competence and high ethical standards are essential.
