Medications are the most common treatment used in health care and contribute to significant improvements in health when used appropriately. However, medication use can also be associated with harm. This means the common use of medications can also be associated with more errors and adverse events than any other aspect of health care. While rates of serious harm are low, errors do affect health outcomes for people and healthcare costs. The prevalence of medication errors is of particular concern because the majority of these errors are preventable. This e-learning tool will help you understand your role in medication administration and how you can prevent errors from occurring in your workplace.

Safe administration of medication is everybody’s responsibility.

Relevance

This e-learning course is intended for staff in the community who administer medication to children. This includes but is not limited to staff who work in the following areas: Department for Education sites, childcare centres, respite services, agency staff, OSHC staff, vacation care program staff, family day care educators, Access Assistant Program Health Support Officers. The term 'Health Support Worker' will be used as a generic name throughout this course to refer to a variety of job titles (including but not limited to: SSO, HSO, ECW, Care Worker, Disability Support Worker). This course will provide HSWs with the prerequisite knowledge required to safely administer medication to children in the community.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• define the term medication and understand the different schedules of medication
• demonstrate an awareness of the importance of medication safety
• outline the different roles and responsibilities of all people involved in medication management
• describe safe storage of medication
• interpret a Medication Agreement
• complete a medication log accurately
• recognise a medication incident and respond appropriately
• employ correct checking procedures when administering medication in the community
• feel confident to administer medications within your service.

Share this with your colleagues, download the Medication Safety for Health Support Workers in the Community A4 promotional flyer/poster