When a student's medication record changes, school health staff often need to know who made the change, when it happened, and exactly what changed. The medication audit trail gives you that history directly on the student's Medications tab — without digging through administration logs or asking colleagues.
This article walks nurses and health staff through how to open the medication audit trail, read the timeline, and understand which changes it tracks.
For an overview of the medications module, see Medications Overview.
Why use the medication audit trail?
See who changed what — every edit is stamped with the staff member's name, date, and time
Review before you administer — check recent changes after a handoff so you're working from the latest orders
Investigate discrepancies — trace a dosage or schedule question back to the edit that caused it
Support compliance and handoffs — a clear, field-level record for audits and conversations with other clinic staff
Who can view the audit trail?
The medication audit trail is available to staff roles with access to student medications, including nurses, substitute nurses, and administrators. It is not available in the family portal or on exported student profiles.
How to open the medication audit trail
Open the student's profile from Students > Roster (or search for the student).
Select the Medications tab.
Scroll to the bottom of the tab and click View medication audit trail.
The audit trail opens in a modal titled Medication audit trail.
Filter by medication
If the student has more than one medication on file, use the dropdown at the top of the modal to choose which medication's history to review.
Active medications appear under the Active group.
Medications that are no longer active appear under the Past group.
The timeline updates to show only changes for the selected medication.
Reading the timeline
Each entry in the timeline shows:
When the change happened (date and time)
Who made the change (the staff member's name)
What changed (a short summary such as "updated the medication" or "added a dosage event")
Field-level details showing the previous and new values
Entries are listed newest first. If there are more than five entries, use the pagination controls at the bottom of the modal to view older changes.
Action types
Green plus | A record was added (for example, "added the medication") |
Blue pencil | A record was updated (for example, "updated a dosage event") |
Red trash | A record was removed (for example, "removed an as-needed dosage") |
Understanding field changes
Below each summary, August shows a before-and-after view for every field that changed:
Previous values appear with strikethrough text.
New values appear after an arrow (→).
Fields that were blank before creation display as empty.
In the example above, the most recent entry shows Notes guardian provided changing from "Take with food" to "Take with food. Give after breakfast." The earlier entry shows the medication being added, with its initial values — dosage schedule, medication name, status, and more.
What changes are tracked?
The audit trail records changes made by staff members. It does not include automated system changes (for example, background jobs that don't have a staff modifier).
Tracked changes include:
Medication-level fields
Medication name
Status (for example, active or inactive)
Start, end, and expiration dates
Notes and guardian-provided notes
Conditions treated
Prescribing provider
Refill settings
Self-carry and other top-level medication settings
Scheduled dosage events
Changes to individual scheduled doses, such as:
Dose amount and unit
Administration time
Days of week
Whether the dose is school- or home-administered
Start and end dates for the dose
As-needed (PRN) dosages
Changes to as-needed dosage instructions, such as dose amount, frequency, and administration settings.
What the audit trail does not replace
The medication audit trail shows changes to the medication record on the student's card. It is different from:
Medication Administration Log (MAR) — records of doses actually administered, skipped, or prepared on a given day. See Medication Administration: Filters, Dispensing Status, & Bulk Actions.
Inventory counts — current on-hand quantities. See Checking Medication Inventory and Administrations.
Use the audit trail when you need to understand how a medication order or schedule changed over time. Use the MAR when you need to verify what was given to the student.
Best Practices & Tips
Review after handoffs. When another nurse updates a student's medication, open the audit trail to see what changed before the next administration.
Investigate schedule questions. If a dose time or day of week looks wrong, check whether a recent edit explains the difference.
Check both active and past medications. Past medications remain in the dropdown so you can review the history of discontinued orders.
Pair with the MAR for full context. The audit trail explains configuration changes; the MAR explains day-to-day administration.
Questions or Concerns?
Please do not hesitate to reach out to the August Schools Support Team via live chat with the Help icon or via email at [email protected].