Don't Rush to Crush

Included in the Pharmacy Board of Australia’s list of essential references for pharmacy practice, Advanced Pharmacy Australia’s Don't Rush to Crush is Australia’s essential guide to safely administering oral medicines to people with enteral feeding tubes or swallowing difficulties. When giving tablets, capsules or oral liquids to these patients, healthcare professionals need answers to these questions: 

  • Can I crush it?
  • Can I disperse it? 
  • Can I open the capsule? 
  • Is this liquid medicine safe and appropriate for my patient? 
  • Can I give the injection orally? 
  • How do I give a dose that is less than a whole tablet or capsule? 

The answers to these questions and more are available in Don’t Rush to Crush.

Don’t Rush to Crush has a new look and a new home with the Therapeutic Guidelines.

The point of care resource is set to become more accessible with a dedicated product app, extensive redesign and upgrades. The new #DontRushtoCrush product app will feature:

  • Brand‑new and improved user interface
  • Dedicated product app with over 600+ medicines
  • Improved navigation for more intuitive access.

Single and institutional 12‑month subscriptions are available from 23 March 2026. Tap to Register Your Interest! 👉 https://bit.ly/4b9vTkm

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Showcasing a new era in Don’t Rush to Crush

This presentation addresses key questions and showcases the new interface, which includes extensive redesign and upgrades. This was originally presented as a live webinar on 10 March 2026.

Informed by Australia-first research 

The recommendations in Don’t Rush to Crush+ are informed by our most comprehensive dispersion testing of tablets and capsules to date which includes the physical suitability of dispersed tablets and capsules for administration into enteral feeding tubes. In partnership with the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at University of Tasmania, the testing so far encompasses over 160 medicines with testing of another 150 + medicines currently underway.

A focus on patient safety 

Informed by evidence that suggests large tablets and capsules may increase the risk of choking, even for people without recognised swallowing difficulties, Don’t Rush to Crush+ now highlights tablets or capsules that are considered to be large within the medicine monographs. 

This builds on recent safety additions including internationally-recognised classification (IDDSI) of the thickness of oral liquid medicines and whether they are suitable for people with swallowing difficulties, as well as factors to consider when giving medicines to people who have undergone gastrointestinal surgery, or who have altered gastrointestinal function. 

Current advice via continuous updates  

Don’t Rush to Crush+ is a comprehensive reference of over 600 oral medicines available in Australia.  Updates to monographs are released four times a year, with focus on a different therapeutic class each quarter. Find out more here.

Contributors

We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of the many contributors to Don’t Rush to Crush+. The production of this and previous editions of Don't Rush to Crush would not have been possible without the generosity and passion of our members, as well as nurses and our allied health colleagues.

Don't Rush to Crush Editorial Committee 2024–25 

  • Professor Lisa Pont (Chair) FSHP, FANZCAP (Edu. GeriMed) 
  • Elizabeth Anderson FSHP
  • Muhammad Nashrudin Bin Jamaludin ANZCAP-Res.
  • Jenny Gowan 
  • Lauren Hunt 
  • Pathma Joseph FSHP, FANZCAP (MedInfo, Paeds) 
  • Jeanie Misko FANZCAP (MedInfo, MedsMgmt)
  • Elise Murphy FANZCAP (Gastro.)
  • Julianne Bryce, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation
  • Julie Cichero, Speech Pathology Australia 
  • Emma Osland, Dietitians Association of Australia 

Monograph reviewers (February 2025 release)

  • Claire Fitzgerald FANZCAP (Lead&Mgmt, MedSafety) 
  • Clair Griffin 
  • Jane Gymer 
  • Rebecca Livori FANZCAP (MedSafety, Neph.)
  • Elise Murphy FANZCAP (Gastro.)
  • Jennifer Nguyen  
  • Emma Osland, Dietitians Association of Australia 

Monograph reviewers (June 2025 release)

  • Gauri Godbole FSHP, FANZCAP (GeriMed, PallCare)
  • Karen Honson FANZCAP (Neuro., Surg.)
  • Anna Needham  FANZCAP (GenMed, Generalist)
  • Jennifer Nguyen 
  • Jessica Pace FSHP, FANZCAP (Edu., Research)
  • Alison Tyedin  FANZCAP (Cardiol., Edu.)

Monograph reviewers (September 2025 release)

  • Cynthia Donarelli FANZCAP (Generalist)
  • Adam Livori FANZCAP (Cardiol., Research)
  • Rebecca Livori FANZCAP (MedSafety, Neph.)
  • Amy Mulligan ANZCAP-Reg. (Generalist)
  • Alison Tyedin FANZCAP (Cardiol., Edu.)

Monograph reviewers (March 2026 release)

  • Kamila Drzewiecki
  • Caitlin Hardman FANZCAP (Edu., MedSafety)
  • Elouise Jendra ANZCAP-Reg. (Neph., Paeds)
  • Anna Needham FANZCAP (Generalist, GenMed)
  • Katie Paddon FANZCAP (Generalist, MedInfo)
  • Anum Poonawala
  • Reham Soro ANZCAP-Reg. (CritCare, Steward.)
  • Violet Zhu