Unit Outline

Safety and Quality in Medication Management will allow you to focus on medication safety. You will examine pharmacotherapeutic and pharmaceutical principles and the Registered Nurse Practice Standards (2016) to consider safety and clinical suitability of medication whilst ensuring your practice meets the legal, professional and ethical standards expected of you. You will apply the clinical reasoning cycle and national evidence-based resources to safely administer medications, with a focus on non-oral medication administration. Principles and socio-political and health economic implications of medication use for patients, across the lifespan, and from a range of cultural perspectives will be considered.

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Apply pharmacotherapeutic and pharmaceutical principles to the administration of medications across a life span.
2	Apply relevant legal and ethical principles, professional standards and Quality Use of Medicines principles to medication management practices.
3	Perform medication calculations.
4	Administer medications safely in simulated scenarios.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	NUR135 Nursing Practice 1
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	NUR241

Alterations as a result of student feedback

In response to the feedback from previous student cohort, changes have been made which may include adjustments to assessments and alignment of some of the timelines. As always, the teaching team will greatly appreciate your feedback both informally during the delivery of the unit in 2026, and formally through the University of Tasmania’s Unit Survey following your completion of the unit.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Pharmacology and pharmaceutics assessments	Week 5	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Competency requirements	Week 7	0 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Medication chart review	Week 9	50 %	LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Pharmacology and pharmaceutics assessments

Task Description:

You will complete a timed, open book assessment regarding pharmacology, pharmaceutics and pharmacy calculations where you will be required to answer specific questions via MyLO.

Task Length:

60 minutes

Due Date:

Week 5

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Calculate medication dosages and concentrations.	LO3
2	Apply pharmacotherapeutic and pharmaceutical principles to the clinical scenarios.	LO1
3	Apply clinical reasoning, legal, ethical and professional standards to the clinical scenarios.	LO2
4	Determine how to administer the medications safely to the patient(s).	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Competency requirements

Task Description:

This assessment contains TWO (2) parts: 1) in-class practical competencies and 2) a medication calculation test.
In class practical competencies
You will participate in 4 practical classes in which you will undertake and be assessed on skills in safe and accurate medication management, parenteral preparation and administration, patient centred communication and consent, and accurate documentation and accountability. Competencies may be assessed across multiple practicals. You will have a maximum of THREE (3) attempts at each competency item.*
If you do not achieve competency in a skill during practicals, you may be required to attend a 5th practical class for a final attempt; this final attempt will be your supplementary assessment, and no further opportunities will be provided.

Medication calculations test
You will sit a hurdle in-person calculations test in week seven. You must get 100% in this test to pass.*

*This is a hurdle assessment.

Due Dates: Weeks 1 to 5, Week 7 (test)

Task Length:

4 x 3 hour practicals and 45 minute test

Due Date:

Week 7

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Check prescriptions for safety and legality.	LO2
2	Consider patient factors and apply evidence-based knowledge to nursing scenarios.	LO1
3	Perform calculations in simulated nursing scenarios.	LO3
4	Explain medication route, purpose, benefits, and risks clearly, engage patients in decisions and obtain informed consent.	LO2
5	Prepare and administer medications via parenteral routes to professional standards, including the six rights of medication administration and three medication checks.	LO4
6	Monitor, evaluate and accurately document patient outcomes.	LO2

Assessment Task 3: Medication chart review

Task Description:

In class, under test conditions, you will undertake a review of patient medication charts and answer questions about the given patient scenario(s).

*This is a hurdle assessment.

Task Length:

45 minutes

Due Date:

Week 9

Weight:

50 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply pharmaceutical knowledge to clinical scenarios.	LO1
2	Calculate medication dosages for the patient.	LO3
3	Apply clinical reasoning, legal, ethical and professional standards to the clinical scenarios.	LO2
4	Determine how to administer the medications safely to the patient(s).	LO4

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

Bauldoff, G., Gubrud, P., Carno, M-A., & Levett-Jones, T. (2020). LeMone and Burke’s medical-surgical nursing : Critical thinking for person-centred care. (4th ed.). Pearson Australia.

Berman, A., Snyder, S., Levett-Jones, T., Burton, P., & Harvey, N. (2021). Skills in clinical nursing. ( 2nd ed.) Pearson Australia.

Berman, A., Frandsen, G., Snyder, S., Levett-Jones, T., Burston, A., Dwyer, T., Hales, M., Harvey, N., Moxham, L., Langtree, T., Reid-Searl, K., Rolf, F., & Stanley, D. (2021). Kozier and Erb’s fundamentals of nursing: Concepts, process and practice (5th ed.). Pearson Australia.