Nurses and midwives must practise in accord with legislation, with standards and guidelines provided by the Nurses and Midwives Board, policy directives of the NSW Health Department where these policies are applicable, and policies of individual employers.

The storage, supply etc, of medications is governed by legislation. The relevant legislation is the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1966 and the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Regulation 2002. Implementation of this legislation is delegated to the NSW Health Department’s Pharmaceutical Services Branch which issues directives and guidelines to assist health personnel in complying with the requirements of legislation.

Some specific documents that may be relevant and applicable to nurses and midwives, depending on their practice settings are shown below. The following website links were accurate at the time of publication. If they do not lead users to the desired publications, go to www.health.nsw.gov.au and follow links or use the search facility.