A professional is someone that must adhere to the highest standards of his profession. A high-level of professionalism does not only ensure quality output but also safety in the workplace and the sustainability of the operation because the professional will not do anything that would put the firm in a compromising position and negatively affect the reputation of his co-workers and even his or her employers.
The same applies to a pharmacist who works in an environment where he or she has access to drugs and other medical paraphernalia that can be used to help people or harm their health. A pharmacist must be mindful of three core values: advocacy, integrity, and respect.
A pharmacist must have an advocacy. A pharmacist is not another professional working behind a counter and dispensing drugs to customers. A pharmacist must believe in something and use that belief as inspiration for his or her actions. The pharmacist’s advocacy can be a guiding light that would enable the pharmacist to appreciate his or her role in this world beyond the repetitive aspect of the job.
In his or her spare time it is this advocacy that would guide in choosing the activities that can help promote responsibility among consumers. One of which is the advocacy to help people understand that it is wrong to abuse prescription medication and to exploit any loopholes in the system to abuse drugs that can be bought over the counter.
A pharmacist must have integrity in order to make the correct decision in times when he or she is in an ethical dilemma. Consider for instance if a relative approaches a pharmacist in order to buy a particular drug that requires prescription and yet this particular relative would like to buy this drug without any prescription in hand.
A pharmacist that does not have integrity would easily give in and sell the drugs to a relative or a friend.
More importantly, integrity is needed in this profession because a pharmacist is knowledgeable about some of the most intimate details of people. Just one look at the prescription medication the pharmacist already has an idea about the illness of the person and in this is the type of information that must be safeguarded in order to protect the privacy of the customers.
Respect is the final attribute that a successful pharmacist should possess. Respect means that a pharmacist does not only see people as mere customers – a means to earn a living. A pharmacist must look at customers as human beings that may or may not be in a personal crisis.
Consider for instance the woman who is buying medication to treat his son’s illness or the man who comes in to buy medicine for a cancer that is in remission. Thus, the people who comes to buy medicine has to be treated with respect, the pharmacist must be sensitive to what he says or do not knowing the kind of pain and suffering that a customer may have been going through at that time.
Conclusion
Advocacy, integrity, and respect are some of the major qualities that a professional must possess. When it comes to a pharmacist these three core values are indispensable. These core values can become a major part of a moral compass that would not only ensure success for the pharmacist but also guide him or her to stay in the right path.
These three core values enable a pharmacist to serve others while maintaining an environment that is safe and yet readily accessible for people needing help in perhaps the most difficult times of their lives.