Medication management for aged care recipients — benefits of using the National Residential Medication Chart
The NRMC is a medication chart specifically developed for the residential aged care sector. It has been designed to improve medication safety for residents and to minimise the administrative burden on aged care staff when ordering, administering and supplying medicines.
During 2013-14, the NRMC was tested and evaluated in over twenty residential aged care services by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. The commission’s website features detailed information on the NRMC and tools to enable its use.
Residential aged care services are not required to use the NRMC.
However, using the NRMC can help residential aged care services to:
- meet medication management standards as part of aged care accreditation processes
- achieve a consistent approach to medicine prescribing, administration and supply
- reduce the number of separate paper forms to be purchased, and reduces medication administration costs.
Another important resource is the Guiding principles for medication management in residential aged care facilities. It is evidence-based and intended to be applicable to all residential settings. When applying the principles, service providers must take into account relevant national, state and territory legislation and regulation, profession-specific licensing, guidelines and standards, and aged care accreditation standards and requirements.