Attitude and Awareness Toward General and Professional Ethics Among Pharmacists and Pharmacy Students: A Cross-Sectional Study from Jordan.

BACKGROUND

Due to their participation in patient care, pharmacists frequently face various ethical decisions that must be made. Every day, pharmacists encounter ethical challenges in any pharmaceutical workplace. This study aims to assess the attitude and awareness among pharmacy students and pharmacists regarding general and professional ethics.

METHODS

This study was cross-sectional, using an interview-based questionnaire. Pharmacy students from Yarmouk University volunteered to approach other pharmacy students and pharmacists to complete the questionnaire using a convenient sampling method.

RESULTS

A total of 1737 pharmacy students and pharmacists participated in this study. Among the 691 participants who are currently practicing pharmacists, 549 (79.4%) reported working in a community pharmacy. About half of the pharmacy students (53.6%) had studied a course in ethics, while 110 (15.9%) of the pharmacists had not. While students and pharmacists have shown significantly different attitudes, less than 20% of the participants demonstrated a high level of awareness regarding the pharmacy code of ethics. On the other hand, more than 60% of pharmacy students and practicing pharmacists concurred that they might permit others to carry out the duties of a pharmacist. Surprisingly, the data revealed that student pharmacists performed better than practicing pharmacists, highlighting that students appreciate the principles of professionalism and that exposure to a work environment can help modulate negative behavior and beliefs.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings underscore the need for ongoing ethical education and training for both pharmacy students and practicing pharmacists to ensure that everyone in the field upholds a high standard of moral behavior in patient care.