Listen Here
Dr. Nira Kadakia
Assistant Professor of Teaching in Pharmacy Practice
This column is part of a series published each week in the Pulse for the rest of the semester from the Watterson Institute for Ethical Leadership working group members.
While the United States is well-known for its wealth and innovation, it is also well-known for the vast disparities faced by different populations. The U.S. healthcare system underperforms healthcare systems around the world on many different metrics, including life expectancy at birth and maternal and infant mortality rates, and different groups of people face differences in outcomes based on their circumstances and drivers of health, according to the article Health Disparities and Health Inequities: Impact and Advocacy from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. This was evident during the COVID-19 pandemic; individuals of lower socioeconomic status or non-White race faced a higher risk of mortality due to the disease than their White counterparts according to the article Emerging Health Disparities during the COVID-19 Pandemic published in the Avicenna Journal of Medicine.
The University of Findlay is home to several health professions programs, including nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant, and pharmacy. Those graduating from these programs will be on the front lines of working with patients facing health disparities and helping patients mitigate barriers to optimal health.
Accrediting bodies and practice standards for different health professions are aware of the role their members play in patient care. Healthcare providers are inherently leaders, people who guide others and motivate others to positively impact those around them. Healthcare providers should be ETHICAL leaders, those who work with and manage others to make choices that are based on what is best for the common good.
In fact, ethical leadership is imbedded into the practice standards for pharmacists. Our “Oath of a Pharmacist” mandates that we “consider the welfare of humanity and relief of suffering” as a primary concern; “promote inclusion, embrace diversity, and advocate for justice to advance health equity”; apply our “knowledge, experience, and skills” to bring about “optimal outcomes for all patients”; and hold ourselves and our colleagues “to the highest principles of our profession’s moral, ethical and legal conduct.”
Ethical leaders in the pharmacy profession demonstrate integrity, transparency, and accountability. They not only follow the rules, but they set the standard for ethical decision-making. This means prioritizing patient welfare above profit, resisting pressures that compromise care, and fostering a culture of honesty and respect within the teams they lead. Exhibiting these behaviors benefits our patients. Pharmacists are among the most accessible healthcare providers; patients often see their community pharmacist more frequently than they see their primary care provider, and most of the population (nearly 90 percent) live within five miles of a community pharmacy, according to the article Access to community pharmacies: A nationwide geographic information systems cross-sectional analysis published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association and the article Pharmacists as accessible health care providers: quantifying the opportunity published in the Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy.
According to the article Healthcare Heroes: The Vital Role of Pharmacists in Healthcare published by LUKE staffing, pharmacists enhance access to necessary healthcare services, like immunizations, and they can help address health disparities, serving as a “bridge” connecting patients to vital medications and ensuring they are safe and effective for patients’ needs.
In addition to being leaders with the patients they serve, pharmacists must also exhibit ethical leadership in the workplace, in any setting. There are many challenges in healthcare right now: drug and staffing shortages; rising costs; differences in health outcomes; and barriers to medication or healthcare access. The effects of these challenges can impact morale and job satisfaction of healthcare teams. The best pharmacist leaders enable an environment where others feel psychologically safe to speak up; help their teams achieve performance targets; make ethical behavior and integrity a routine part of their conversations; and set good examples for their teams, according to Ethical Leadership: Making Morally Defensible Choices published in the book Leadership for Pharmacists: Facilitating Change in Pharmacy Practices by David Holford. By consistently prioritizing ethics, pharmacy leaders make certain that patients’ (and colleagues’) trust in the profession remains intact and emphasizes the role of pharmacists as an important part of patient care. Leading in pharmacy involves collaborating with different healthcare professionals, identifying and implementing resources and solutions, and educating the next generation of pharmacy leaders, according to the article Health Disparities in Pharmacy Practice Within the Community: Let’s Brainstorm for Solutions published in Frontiers in Public Health.
By committing to ethical decision-making, those in healthcare professions uphold the highest standards of care and strengthen their professions for generations to come. The Watterson Center of Ethical Leadership is dedicated to developing and inspiring ethical leaders who will make a meaningful impact on the world around them. Ethical leadership development will be imbedded in all areas of a UF education, giving opportunities for all in the UF community to reflect on WCEL’s core values of courage, compassion, integrity, and humility and essential traits of ethical leaders. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, the need for ethical leadership continues to grow. It is imperative that those entering the pharmacy profession are prepared to rise to challenges, embracing their role not just as medication experts but as ethical stewards of public health.
