Abbreviations & Word Parts

Blood pressure

A sudden drop or rise is often the first sign that something has changed — a fall, an infection, or a reaction to a new medicine.

Heart rate

Recorded alongside blood pressure. Also written as PR.

Pulse rate

The same measurement as heart rate — counted at the wrist or neck rather than listened to at the chest.

Respiratory rate

The most-often-skipped vital sign, and one of the earliest warnings of deterioration.

Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation

The "sats" number shown by the clip on a finger — how much oxygen the blood is carrying.

Twice a day (bis die)

Acceptable on a medication chart, but write "twice a day" on handovers so nothing is lost in translation.

Three times a day (ter die sumendum)

Roughly eight-hourly. It does NOT mean "with meals" — a common and clinically significant misreading.

Four times a day (quater in die)

Easily misread as once-daily. That confusion produces a fourfold dose error, which is why plain words are safer.

In the morning

Latin. ACSQHC prefers "morning" or a specific clock time on the chart.

At night

Latin. ACSQHC prefers "night" or a specific clock time on the chart.

Immediately, and once only

Means NOW — and only once. It is not the same as PRN ("as needed"), and treating the two as interchangeable is a genuine safety risk.

Subcutaneous — DO NOT USE

On the national do-not-use list because it is misread as SL (sublingual) — a different route entirely. Write "subcut" instead.

Subcutaneous

Into the fatty tissue under the skin — where insulin and many blood thinners are given. The safe replacement for "SC".

Once a day — DO NOT USE

On the national do-not-use list: it can be read as "right eye" or mistaken for BD. Write "once a day" in full.

pro re nata — as required

A medicine authorised to be given when needed, in the judgement of the nurse. Different from STAT, and an "as needed" dose still needs a recorded reason each time.

per os — by mouth

The route of administration. The most common route in residential care.

Intramuscular

Into the muscle — usually the upper arm or thigh.

Intravenous

Into a vein. Less common in residential settings, but you will see it on hospital transfer paperwork.

Nil by mouth

No food, drink or oral medicines for a set period — usually ahead of a procedure, sometimes for bowel rest. Nil by mouth periods are worth questioning: patients are often fasted far longer than needed.

Nasogastric (tube)

A tube passed through the nose into the stomach, for feeding or drainage.

Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy

A feeding tube placed through the abdominal wall directly into the stomach — used when feeding is needed long-term and a nasogastric tube is not suitable.

Indwelling (urinary) catheter

A drainage tube left in the bladder. A major infection risk — and in older adults the only sign of that infection may be new restlessness or confusion, not a fever.

Blood sugar level / blood glucose level

The two are used interchangeably. The reading taken to monitor diabetes — and to work out whether confusion is a low sugar.

Aged Care Assessment Team

The team that assessed whether someone qualified for government-funded care. Legacy terminology — assessments are now delivered by assessment organisations under the single assessment system, but families and staff still say "ACAT" every day.

Home Care Package

The former home-care funding program. Replaced by Support at Home on 1 November 2025. Grandfathered packages continue to transition.

Commonwealth Home Support Programme

Entry-level home help — cleaning, transport, meals. It transitions into Support at Home no earlier than 1 July 2027.

Short-Term Restorative Care

A short, intensive program aimed at restoring independence. Replaced by Support at Home on 1 November 2025.

Support at Home program

The program that replaced both Home Care Packages and Short-Term Restorative Care from 1 November 2025. If you hear "HCP" in 2026, this is what the person actually means.

Serious Incident Response Scheme

Requires aged care providers to report specified serious incidents to the Commission — including unexplained injuries, neglect and unlawful sexual contact.

Residential Aged Care Facility

The formal term for what most people call "the nursing home".

International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative

The framework behind every texture-modified meal and thickened drink. Eight levels, 0–7: drinks are levels 0–4, foods are levels 3–7. "Level 6" on a chart means soft and bite-sized.

Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia

Non-cognitive symptoms — agitation, apathy, delusions, sleep change. Note: many advocacy bodies now prefer "changed behaviours" or "responsive behaviours", because framing them as "behavioural" can imply the person is the problem rather than communicating an unmet need.

Registered Nurse

University-trained. Assesses residents, develops nursing care plans, administers medicines and supervises enrolled nurses.

Enrolled Nurse

Diploma-trained, working under the supervision of a registered nurse, with fewer responsibilities than an RN.

Personal Care Worker

Assists residents with daily living — showering, dressing, meals, mobility. Often the first person to notice that something has changed, and the most important voice in the handover.

Nursing Unit Manager

Manages the unit or ward and its nursing team. The usual first escalation point when a concern is not being heard on the floor.

Australian National Aged Care Classification

The classification that determines how much residential funding a facility receives for each resident, across 13 resident classes. It is why documented care needs matter — the assessment follows the record.

Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission

The regulator. It handles complaints, audits providers against the strengthened Quality Standards, and can issue sanctions. This is who you contact when a concern is not resolved inside the facility.

Dementia Support Australia

Free 24/7 behaviour-support service led by HammondCare — 1800 699 799. Not to be confused with Dementia Australia's National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500. Both are free and always open; they are different services with different phone numbers.

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse

Drives interpreter access and cultural-care planning. A person may revert to their first language as dementia progresses — the language they learned last is often lost first.

Care Finder program

Free, intensive, face-to-face help for older people who cannot navigate the aged care system alone — including those with no family support, communication barriers, or who are reluctant to engage.

Restrictive Practices Substitute Decision-maker

Under the Aged Care Rules 2025, only a person in this formal role can consent to a restrictive practice. A family carer is NOT automatically an RPSDM — the role follows its own statutory hierarchy.

Enduring Power of Attorney

Covers money and property — and critically, it CONTINUES to operate after the person loses decision-making capacity. It does not authorise medical decisions. Must be appointed while the person still has capacity.

Power of Attorney (general)

ENDS if the person loses decision-making capacity — this is the single most important difference from an Enduring Power of Attorney. A general POA is useless in dementia care for exactly this reason.

Advance Care Directive

Records the person's own wishes for future care. State-based and genuinely different in each jurisdiction — in South Australia it absorbed enduring power of guardianship, medical power of attorney and anticipatory direction; elsewhere those remain separate documents. It does NOT cover finances.

Next of Kin

EMERGENCY CONTACT ONLY — not automatic authority to make decisions. Where a person cannot consent to treatment, NSW law appoints a "person responsible" in a strict order: (1) an appointed guardian or enduring guardian; (2) a spouse, de facto spouse or partner in a close continuing relationship; (3) an unpaid carer who provides or arranges in-home support; (4) a close relative or friend with frequent contact and personal interest. An unpaid carer therefore OUTRANKS an adult child — this is not always the patient's next of kin. Every other state and territory sets its own hierarchy, so the answer can differ across the border.

Substitute Decision-Maker

An umbrella term for whoever is authorised to decide on someone else's behalf. Who that is depends on the state and on the type of decision — financial, medical, or lifestyle. Never assume it is the closest relative.

Office of the Public Advocate

A state statutory office providing advocacy, investigation and guardianship services for adults with impaired decision-making capacity. Each state runs its own; the powers differ.

ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal

A genuine collision with the aged-care ACAT. In the ACT, "ACAT" usually means the tribunal that decides guardianship matters — not an assessment team. Always check which one is meant.

Mini-Mental State Examination

The 30-point test often called the "Folstein test" after its 1975 paper. Widely used to stage cognitive impairment. The tool itself is copyrighted (MiniMental LLC, licensed through PAR), which is why apps and websites describe it and its score bands rather than reproduce the questions.

Montreal Cognitive Assessment

A 30-point test more sensitive to mild cognitive impairment than the MMSE. The usual cut-off is 26, and someone with MCI typically averages around 22. Free for clinicians, but certification is required.

Glasgow Coma Scale

Scores 3–15 across eye, verbal and motor responses. Built for acute coma after head injury, so it has limited usefulness in advanced dementia — a low score may reflect baseline impairment rather than acute deterioration.

Abbey Pain Scale

A non-verbal pain tool with six categories scored 0–3, designed for people with late-stage dementia who cannot report pain. Vocalisation, facial expression, body language, behaviour change, physiological change and physical change.

Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale

A six-item cognitive screen developed in Australia, designed to be culturally fair and easily interpreted across languages and education levels — useful where the MMSE would be confounded by language or schooling.

Clock Drawing Test

A quick pen-and-paper screen: draw a clock, set a time. Cheap and easy, but with LOW sensitivity for mild dementia and mild cognitive impairment — it should be paired with a fuller tool, never relied on alone.

Barthel Index of Activities of Daily Living

Scores independence in daily tasks — feeding, bathing, dressing, toileting, mobility, continence. Drives care planning and funding documentation.

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

The national board that registers nurses and midwives in Australia and sets the standards they practise under, including the continuing professional development requirement. It is the board the CPD record on this site is kept for.

Continuing professional development

The learning a registered health practitioner must complete to keep their registration. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia requires at least 20 hours a year for nurses and midwives, and records of the activities must be kept for at least five years.