Patient safety and medicines3 hours
Adverse Event Reporting and Learning
Recognise, rate and report harm and near misses under the 2023 national adverse events policy, then turn your report into learning.
NZ$139DetailsAdd to cart
Patient safety and medicines
Medication Safety and Error Prevention
Preventing, detecting and responding to medication errors under New Zealand's medicines law, HQSC charting and reconciliation standards and the Code of Rights
- 3hours (estimated)
- 10sections
- 20final questions
- 80%pass mark
- PDFcertificate
- Online and self-paced, on any device
- Reflective account template
- Knowledge checks in every section
- Instant certificate of completion
What you will learn
- Describe the stages of the medication-use process and distinguish medication errors, adverse drug reactions and adverse drug events.
- Explain how the Medicines Act 1981, Medicines Regulations 1984, Medicines (Standing Order) Regulations 2002, the Code of Rights and professional standards govern medicines practice in New Zealand.
- Make and document safe prescribing decisions, including information for patients, monitoring plans, repeat prescribing and deprescribing.
- Apply the HQSC Medication Charting Standard to prescriptions and chart orders, including PRN orders and error-prone expressions.
- Carry out medicine reconciliation in line with the HQSC Medicine Reconciliation Standard and record allergies and adverse reactions correctly.
- Analyse dispensing errors from recent HDC decisions and apply independent checking and counselling as error-detection steps.
- Administer, delegate and monitor medicines safely, including telephone orders, standing orders and monitoring after opioids and insulin.
- Apply stronger controls to high-alert medicines and adjust practice for children, older people, pregnancy and reduced organ function.
- Respond to a medication error with appropriate treatment, escalation, disclosure, documentation and reporting.
- Show insight and targeted remediation after a medication error with evidence suitable for recertification and regulatory processes.
Who this course is for
Registered health practitioners in Aotearoa New Zealand who prescribe, dispense, administer or monitor medicines: doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, dentists and oral health practitioners, paramedics and allied health professionals.
Doctors (MCNZ) Nurses (Nursing Council) Midwives (Midwifery Council) Dental professions (Dental Council) Pharmacists (Pharmacy Council) Other HPCA Act professions
After a concern
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a responsible authority inquiry.
Routine CPD
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
About this course
This course follows medicines through the whole medication-use process as it works in Aotearoa New Zealand: the prescribing decision, charting and prescriptions, medicine reconciliation at transitions, dispensing and supply, administration, delegation and standing orders, and monitoring after the dose. It is built around New Zealand's own framework: the Medicines Act 1981 and Medicines Regulations 1984, the Medicines (Standing Order) Regulations 2002, the Health Quality & Safety Commission's Medication Charting Standard and Medicine Reconciliation Standard, the Safe use of opioids work, Medsafe, CARM and the Medical Warning System, and Right 4 and Right 6 of the Code of Rights.
It is written for registered health practitioners who prescribe, dispense, administer or monitor medicines, or who see their effects: doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and midwives, pharmacists and pharmacist prescribers, dentists and oral health practitioners, paramedics and allied health professionals, in hospitals, general practice, community pharmacy, aged residential care, ambulance services and private practice.
Medication errors are among the most common reasons for HDC complaints and regulatory concern, and a run of HDC decisions from 2024 to 2026 shows how ordinary slips in busy services cause serious harm. Each section uses New Zealand cases, including those HDC decisions, to show which controls work, how HDC and responsible authorities respond, and how to show genuine learning. Every section ends with a knowledge check, and the course closes with a final assessment and a structured reflection.
Course details
- Learning time
- Approximately 3 hours (estimated learning time including knowledge checks, reflection and assessment)
- Standards covered
- Medicines Act 1981 (including ss 25, 29 and 29A); Medicines Regulations 1984; Medicines (Standing Order) Regulations 2002; Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 (overview); Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (Rights 4, 6 and 7, clause 3); HQSC Medication Charting Standard and Medicine Reconciliation Standard; National Medication Chart user guide; HQSC Safe use of opioids; Medical Council Statement on good prescribing practice (2024); Nursing Council Code of Conduct and standards of competence; Pharmacy Council Code of Ethics 2018 and Competence Standards; RNZCGP Foundation Standard medicines management indicators
- Format
- Self-paced, gated lessons with knowledge checks, case studies and reflection
- Assessment
- 20 scenario-based questions, 80% to pass (16 of 20)
- Outcome
- Certificate of completion and a written reflection for your CPD record
- Alignment
- Mapped to the safe medicines practice expectations of New Zealand's responsible authorities under the HPCA Act (Medical, Nursing, Midwifery, Pharmacy and Dental Councils and allied health authorities) and to the HQSC national medication safety standards; suitable for a professional development plan or recertification activity where relevant
Course curriculum
10 sections · 24 lessons · 3 hours (estimated) · 20-question final assessment
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1Medication harm and the New Zealand medicines framework3 lessons
- How medicines cause harm: the medication-use process
- The New Zealand legal and regulatory framework for medicines
- Equity, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and partnership in medicines safety
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2Safe prescribing3 lessons
- The prescribing decision: assessment, information and choice
- Writing it safely: prescriptions and the National Medication Chart
- Repeat prescribing, monitoring and deprescribing
-
3Medicine reconciliation and transitions of care3 lessons
- The Medicine Reconciliation Standard: collect, compare, communicate
- Allergies, adverse reactions and the Medical Warning System
- Discharge, community pharmacy and multi-prescriber patients
-
4Dispensing and supply safety3 lessons
- Where dispensing goes wrong: lessons from recent HDC decisions
- Checking systems that actually work
- Hand-out and counselling: the last barrier
-
5Administration, delegation and monitoring3 lessons
- Safe administration at the bedside, in the home and in the field
- Standing orders, delegation and the unregulated workforce
- Monitoring after the dose: opioids, sedation and insulin
-
6High-alert medicines and higher-risk patients3 lessons
- High-alert medicines and the controls that protect them
- Children, older people, pregnancy and reduced organ function
- Medication safety across professions and settings
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7When a medication error happens: response, accountability and learning3 lessons
- The first hour after a medication error
- How HDC and responsible authorities respond to medication errors
- Learning from medication errors and showing insight
-
8Conclusion and key points1 lesson
- Conclusion and key points
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9References and further reading1 lesson
- References and further reading
-
10Your reflective account1 lesson
- Your reflective account
Assessment and certificate
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
- Pass mark 80%: 16 correct out of 20
- Knowledge checks in each section as you go
- Tests whether you can apply the standards, not recall a page
- Not passed yet? Review the sections and retake it
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
- Your name, the course title and the estimated learning time (record the time you actually spend)
- Completion date and a unique certificate ID that can be verified
- Ready to download as a PDF as soon as you complete the course
Fitness To Practice
Certificate of Completion
This certifies that
Your Name
has successfully completed
Medication Safety and Error Prevention
3hours (estimated)
Continuing professional development record — New Zealand
Your reflective account
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Questions about this course
Which New Zealand standards does the medication safety course use?
The Medicines Act 1981 and Medicines Regulations 1984, the Medicines (Standing Order) Regulations 2002, HQSC's charting and reconciliation standards, its opioid safety programme, Medsafe, CARM, the Medical Warning System, and Rights 4 and 6 of the Code of Rights. Each source is linked to the stage of the medication process it governs.
Does the course cover dispensing errors?
Yes. It analyses dispensing errors from recent HDC decisions and shows how independent checking and patient counselling act as error-detection steps, alongside prescribing, charting, medicine reconciliation at transitions, administration, delegation and monitoring after the dose. Telephone orders and standing orders are covered under administration and delegation.
What should I do straight after a medication error?
The course takes you through the order that matters: treatment and escalation so the patient is safe, honest disclosure to the patient and whānau, documentation and reporting, then how to show insight and targeted remediation with evidence suitable for recertification and any regulatory process that follows.
How does it handle high-alert medicines and higher-risk patients?
It applies stronger controls to high-alert medicines such as opioids and insulin and adjusts practice for children, older people, pregnancy and reduced organ function. Clinical content stays general and in line with official guidance, and it does not replace your local protocols.
How is the medication safety course different from the prescribing standards course?
The prescribing course covers the law and standards behind writing a prescription. This course follows the whole medication-use process, including dispensing, administration and monitoring, and suits nurses, pharmacists and others who never prescribe. Three hours (estimated) for NZ$139; no council has approved it.
How this course was built
Official sources only
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: the HPCA Act 2003, the responsible authorities' standards and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Original, edition by edition
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
Reviewed when rules change
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
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