Ethics in Pharmacy Practice

Ethics consists of a set of principles or rules of conduct that emerge from moral standards. In the broad sense, ethics is applied to many situations or relationships in life. When it comes to healthcare, ethics emerges within the context of patient care, i.e., what a healthcare professional should do when providing healthcare, and how the presence or absence of ethical conduct impacts patient care and outcomes. In the pharmacy setting, pharmacists and pharmacy staff may be guided by the Code of Ethics for Pharmacists and the principles embodied in the Oath of a Pharmacist.