Medication charts

SA Health supports the implementation of the National Inpatient Medication Chart (NIMC), a suite of nationally approved medication charts to promote safe use of medicines through standardisation of documentation. A standard chart ensures the same chart is used wherever a health professional works and wherever a patient is within a hospital.

Use of the NIMC is mandatory for all Australian health services and required for accreditation purposes under the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standard 4 Medication Safety.

Inpatient charts

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care released new versions of the National Inpatient Medication Charts in 2019.

Change summaries

See the below fact sheets for information on the changes made to the SA Health NIMCs:

The National Inpatient Medication Charts (NIMC) to be used are:

NIMC – Acute Metro (PDF 185KB)

  • for metropolitan hospitals.
  • contains a pre-printed venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis section.

NIMC – Acute Regional (PDF 222KB)

  • for regional hospitals
  • contains a pre-printed VTE prophylaxis section
  • contains a separate section specifically for telephone orders.

NIMC – Long Stay (PDF 196KB)

  • does not contain a pre-printed VTE prophylaxis section.

NIMC - Paediatric (PDF 183KB)

  • contains a dose calculation box for each medicine.

NIMC GP e-version– (National Version) (PDF 96KB)

  • contains a pre-printed VTE prophylaxis section
  • can be incorporated into electronic prescribing systems to assist adoption of the chart in rural and remote areas.

Auditing

The NIMC national audit, conducted every two years, forms a component of the ongoing quality assurance process to evaluate the use of the NIMC and compliance with its safety features.

Further information regarding national audits can be found on the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care website.

For information regarding local auditing please contact Medicines and Technology Programs.

Managing the NIMC locally

The NIMC Local Management Guidelines provide detailed guidance on the scope of changes to the NIMC which can be authorised at local levels, for example state, Local Health Network and individual health service organisation level. Proposals for change should be submitted to the South Australian Medication Safety Advisory Group (SAMSAG) which has jurisdictional oversight of the National Inpatient Medication Chart (NIMC) in South Australia. Referral to the Health Services Medication Expert Advisory Group, which provides oversight at a national level, may be undertaken where appropriate as per the Local Management Guidelines.

Feedback

South Australian hospitals have the opportunity to submit suggestions and feedback through the South Australian NIMC Change Register (DOC 34KB). Amendments made to the state register will be submitted to the national register. Major amendments will only be considered if accompanied by supporting audit data.

Ordering

Medication charts are available via the Oracle Corporate System.

Training

An online training course is strongly advised for all health professional staff and students involved in medication management (for example prescribing, dispensing or administration) in hospital settings.

For more information, see the Medication safety training and development page.

Further information

For further information on medication charts please contact the Office of the Chief Pharmacist at Health.MedicationSafety@sa.gov.au.