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NZ$139DetailsAdd to cart
Profession-specific standards
Ethics for Pharmacists
Applying the Pharmacy Council Code of Ethics 2018 to supply, commerce, conscience and collaboration in Aotearoa
- 3hours (estimated)
- 10sections
- 20final questions
- 80%pass mark
- PDFcertificate
- Online and self-paced, on any device
- Reflective account template
- Knowledge checks in every section
- Instant certificate of completion
What you will learn
- Explain the status, scope and seven principles of the Pharmacy Council Code of Ethics 2018 and how it is used when concerns arise.
- Describe how the HPCA Act 2003, the Code of Rights, the Medicines Act 1981 and recent amendments frame ethical pharmacy practice.
- Apply a structured approach to supply decisions for prescription and pharmacist-only medicines, including deciding not to supply and referring.
- Raise concerns with prescribers using a structured method, and decide when to decline to dispense.
- Respond to requests for medicines with misuse potential and to opioid substitution clients in a way that is both safe and respectful.
- Give truthful, evidence-based information about complementary medicines and avoid misleading promotion.
- Identify, avoid, declare and manage conflicts of interest in incentives, hospitality and business arrangements.
- Handle conscientious objection, errors, complaints and dealings with regulators with honesty and without creating barriers to care.
- Protect professional independence, delegate safely and raise concerns about systems, colleagues and impairment.
- Use the Pharmacy Council's recertification framework to show insight, remediation and ethical growth.
Who this course is for
Pharmacists, pharmacist prescribers and intern pharmacists registered with the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand, in community, hospital, general practice, aged care, industry and advisory roles.
After a concern
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a responsible authority inquiry.
Routine CPD
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
About this course
A practical, pharmacy-specific ethics course built around the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand's Code of Ethics 2018. You will work through all seven principles as they play out in real pharmacy decisions: supplying pharmacist-only medicines, questioning prescriptions, medicines with misuse potential, complementary medicines and promotion, conflicts of interest and business arrangements, conscientious objection, professional independence under commercial pressure, delegation, raising concerns, pharmacist prescribing, telehealth and professional boundaries.
It is written for registered pharmacists, pharmacist prescribers and intern pharmacists in community, hospital, general practice, aged care, industry and advisory roles. Every section uses New Zealand cases, from rural community pharmacies to hospital dispensaries, and links each decision to the Code of Ethics, the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights, the Medicines Act 1981, the HPCA Act 2003 and Pharmacy Council statements.
Pharmacists are the most accessible health practitioners in many New Zealand communities, and the public trusts that what happens in a pharmacy is decided by a professional. Recent changes, including the Medicines Amendment Act 2025 and new Council statements, have widened pharmacists' roles and the commercial arrangements around them. This course helps you meet those responsibilities with confidence, avoid the conduct that most often leads to Tribunal action, and produce a critical reflection for MyRecert.
Course details
- Learning time
- Approximately 3 hours (estimated learning time including knowledge checks, reflection and assessment)
- Standards covered
- Pharmacy Council Code of Ethics 2018; Pharmacy Council statements (Complementary and Alternative Medicines; Raising Concerns with Prescribers; Innovative Practice; Principles for Quality and Safe Prescribing Practice; Telehealth and Internet Supply; Clinical Roles in General Practice); Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights; HPCA Act 2003 (ss 34, 45–51, 100, 101, 118, 174); Medicines Act 1981 and Medicines Amendment Act 2025; Misuse of Drugs Act 1975; Health Information Privacy Code 2020; HDC Guidance on open disclosure policies (2019)
- Format
- Self-paced, gated lessons with knowledge checks, case studies and reflection
- Assessment
- 20 scenario-based questions, 80% to pass (16 of 20)
- Outcome
- Certificate of completion and a written reflection for your CPD record
- Alignment
- Mapped to the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand Code of Ethics 2018 and its recertification framework (learning goals, critical reflection, cultural safety action), and to the Code of Rights; not approved by the Pharmacy Council or any other body
Course curriculum
10 sections · 23 lessons · 3 hours (estimated) · 20-question final assessment
-
1Pharmacy ethics in Aotearoa: the Code and its legal setting3 lessons
- Why pharmacy ethics is its own discipline
- The Pharmacy Council Code of Ethics 2018: status and structure
- The legal layer around pharmacy ethics
-
2Patient first: wellbeing, autonomy and conscience3 lessons
- Putting the patient first: harm prevention and judicious supply
- Patient-centred care: autonomy, information and privacy at the counter
- Conscience, personal beliefs and the pharmacist's duty to the patient
-
3Professional judgement: prescriptions, misuse and the wider community3 lessons
- Questioning a prescription: the ethics of the clinical check
- Medicines with misuse potential: access without harm
- Equity, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stewardship
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4Honesty and integrity: information, commerce and candour3 lessons
- Truthful information, promotion and complementary medicines
- Conflicts of interest, gifts, incentives and business arrangements
- Honesty with patients, colleagues and regulators
-
5Independence and accountability in the pharmacy workplace3 lessons
- Professional independence in commercial and employed settings
- Accountability for the team: delegation and supervision
- Raising concerns: systems, colleagues and impairment
-
6Collaboration, expanding roles and digital practice3 lessons
- Working collaboratively: prescribers, nurses and general practice teams
- Pharmacist prescribers, new services and the limits of scope
- Digital practice, online supply and professional boundaries
-
7Accountability, remediation and ethical growth2 lessons
- When an ethical lapse becomes a regulatory concern
- Insight, remediation and ethical growth through recertification
-
8Conclusion and key points1 lesson
- Conclusion and key points
-
9References and further reading1 lesson
- References and further reading
-
10Reflection1 lesson
- Your reflective account
Assessment and certificate
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
- Pass mark 80%: 16 correct out of 20
- Knowledge checks in each section as you go
- Tests whether you can apply the standards, not recall a page
- Not passed yet? Review the sections and retake it
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
- Your name, the course title and the estimated learning time (record the time you actually spend)
- Completion date and a unique certificate ID that can be verified
- Ready to download as a PDF as soon as you complete the course
Fitness To Practice
Certificate of Completion
This certifies that
Your Name
has successfully completed
Ethics for Pharmacists
3hours (estimated)
Continuing professional development record — New Zealand
Your reflective account
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Questions about this course
Does the pharmacy ethics course cover all seven principles of the Code of Ethics 2018?
Yes, from making the patient's health and wellbeing the first priority to working collaboratively with others. Each principle is applied to real pharmacy decisions rather than read as a list, and the course explains how the Council uses the Code when a concern about a pharmacist is raised.
How does the course help with requests for medicines with misuse potential?
It gives a structured approach to supply decisions for prescription and pharmacist-only medicines, including deciding not to supply and referring, and shows how to treat opioid substitution clients and people asking for medicines with misuse potential safely and with respect.
What does the course say about conscientious objection in pharmacy?
It explains how to handle an objection honestly and without creating a barrier to care, using the Code and the HPCA Act, so the person can still obtain the medicine or service elsewhere. The same principles of honesty apply to errors, complaints and dealings with the Council.
Does the course address commercial pressure on pharmacists?
Yes. It covers incentives, hospitality, business arrangements, complementary medicine promotion and pressure from owners or targets, and shows how to identify, avoid, declare and manage conflicts of interest while protecting your professional independence and judgement. It also covers delegating safely and raising concerns about systems, colleagues and impairment.
Can I log the pharmacy ethics course in MyRecert?
You can record it as a learning activity or link it to a learning goal where it fits your practice. The Pharmacy Council does not approve individual providers, so we make no approval claim. Study takes about 3 hours (estimated) online; after passing 20 questions at 80% you receive a certificate and a structured reflection for MyRecert. NZ$139.
How this course was built
Official sources only
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: the HPCA Act 2003, the responsible authorities' standards and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Original, edition by edition
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
Reviewed when rules change
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
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