Give the definition of “Practice of the profession of pharmacy.”

Covid-19 has been an unprecedented situation for our healthcare system. Accordingly, many professions, including pharmacy, have necessitated to alter their scope of practice and assume new roles to assist patients and relieve the healthcare system’s burden. For example, pharmacists are now performing antibody testing, diagnostic testing, recommending alternative therapies both preventive and for treatment, administering EUA vaccines, initiating time sensitive antivirals, serving as stewards for off-label treatments, compounding hand sanitizer and unapproved medications, counseling and selling PPE, dispensing off-label drugs for patients (hydroxycholorquine), recruiting convalescent plasma patients for donation and consenting patients for clinical trials.

Describe three structured frameworks that may be used for ethical analysis, namely Reynolds Seven-Step Approach, Kidder’s Nine Steps, and Spinello’s Seven-Step Process.

This assignment is an opportunity to explore and apply a decision making framework to an IT-related ethical issue. A framework provides a methodical and systematic approach for decision making. UMGC Module 2 – Methods of Ethical Analysis (see LEO Content – Readings for week 2) describes three structured frameworks that may be used for ethical analysis, namely Reynolds Seven-Step Approach, Kidder’s Nine Steps, and Spinello’s Seven-Step Process. There are several ways described in UMGC Module 2 to systematically approach an ethical dilemma, and while each of the frameworks described has its merits, each will result in an ethical decision if straightforwardly, objectively, and honestly applied.