No school nurse..can teachers give out med's and medical attention?

[Divamomto3]

Wow, not only would I be uncomfortable as a teacher doing that..no WAY would I want a teacher giving meds to my child. Are you also trained in using a difibulator? Or is someone on hand at all times that is trained to use one?? I would feel that my childs health and safety were in jeopardy if she went to a school that had no trained medical person on hand at all times!

I doubt there are many schools out there with defibrillators. If there are the new AED's (automatic defibrillators) that are found in malls, hotels, etc, they are designed so that anyone can operate them...that's the point of having them in public places.

However, I would feel uncomfortable if my kids' school had no nurse. We are a Catholic School also. Our nurse is there everyday, but only until noon. After that, the office staff is supposed to do inhalers, etc but they also call the parents right away. Do you have any parents that are nurses that would be willing to volunteer in the nurses' office? Lord knows we are asked to volunteer for everything else at school! LOL My sister is a teacher at this same school and she had to use the epi pen on a kid with peanut allergies and someone called 911. The child was fine and luckily, our school is just a block away from the fire station and the batallion chief's children go to the school...they come FAST!

 

[aprilgail2]

I'm wondering when schools became hospitals? Why does everyone think you HAVE to have a nurse on hand? I don't get it. Someone (preferable several someones) trained in first aid/CPR/etc. is fine to handle 99.9% of things that come up at schools...and for the other .1%, you dial 911 and do what you can until paramedics arrive (same thing the nurse would do). Is everywhere a child goes supposed to be staffed by medical personnel? So does this mean your church has a nurse on hand during services? What about the mall? Grocery store? I'm honestly not trying to be sarcastic....I just don't think it's necessary. And if it IS for your child, isn't it your responsibility to provide that care?

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If my child is in the mall or at church or the grocery store then I am WITH her...its up to me to take care of her medical needs...in school she is there in a school by herself and there should be a responsible person on hand that is medically trained to treat the hundreds of children in the school each day.
Our school does have a difibulator, as do all schools in our district. When I went to check out summer camps my first question was "do you have a nurse on hand and is she trained to use a difbulator" The answer was yes and my daughter attended that camp. During the summer she was bit by a bee, she had never been bit by a bee before so I had NO idea what the reaction would be. The nurse called me to tell me she had her there with her in the office, they had an epi pen on hand should she need it. They kept her in the nurses office for 45 minutes to keep an eye on her and then once she went back with her group the head of the camp went ot get her 2 more times to take her to the nurse so they could check the area and make sure she was ok.....If there was no nurse on hand who knows what could have happened should she have been allergic to the sting...I have never in my life heard of schools not having school nurses on hand all day long until I started reading it here on the disboards...it was a shock!

 

[agnes!]

What a situation.

At my DD's old grade school, the aide(*NOT* a nurse) is in charge of administering all meds, even non-prescriptions ones.

To the OP - If I were in your situation, I'd be concerned about liability issues. I'm trained in First Aid/CPR and have additional First Aid training (what the American Red Cross calls "When Help Is Delayed" - also known in Girl Scouts as a Level 2 First Aid'er and I've served as a Camp First Aid'er for a GS Camp). I am concerned @ the possibility of being sued in my volunteer work, but when working under the GS umbrella I am covered, plus most localities have 'Good Samaritan' laws.
Maybe all the teachers could refuse to do it and the PRINICPAL would have to administer all meds? (I wonder how the Principal would enjoy that...)

agnes!

 

[teacherforhi]

In my district, someone in the office administers medications. There's a nurse in the building once a week.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

wow! Law or no, the liability is the issue. You could lose everthing you own if a parent doesn't like what you do to their kid (the exception is giving CPR - they can't sure you for trying to give CPR - or the hemlich maneuver). Not only that, but there is a significant risk to your health, as well. If any of your kids has a blood borne disease (and there are a number of diseases they could have) you can contract it if you touch their blood, and it hits an opening on your body. The parents, by federal law, do not even have to tell you about the condition - no matter what!
A few years ago, a teacher at our school, had the goodenss in his heart to break up a fight. He got blood in his eye. Now, for years, he'll have to get tested to find out if he has AIDS. ( I'm not trying to drum up fear about AIDS per say, but it is simply the illness that most people know about.) Because one of the parents refused to disclose this info to the teacher! Symptoms for AIDS sometimes do show up for years after exposure. How horrible are those parents?!?!? The teacher tried to save their kid's life, and they won't even tell him if their kid has a blood borne disease!
I love kids, but I did not sign up to be a nurse. Technically, we're not legally supposed to touch kids, even if they are fighting, so I just call an administrator.
I'd personally refuse this situation. Sometimes we just have to stand up against the BS.
Last year, our district tried to add these cumbersome reading reports for certain kids. As if I don't already work many extra hours, they wanted me to be resposible for judging kids' reading abilities - and their progress, and then to spend many hours per kid writing reports and asessing their progress because they were too cheap to hire reading specialists (meanwhile, the super takes his raise every year....). We refused. Long story short - we changed supers, and they changed the policy.

Do you have a union? Sounds like a union issue to me. But maybe your parents will start sending kids somehwhere else when they hear of the changes...that will inspire change!
You don't have to take my word - Inform yourself of the risks. A few years ago, I did coaching, and our state requires a couple of short medical courses. Our district offers this course for free for any teachers, and you can also take it at other districts in our state (you might have to pay), I suspect most states have similar programs. The courses taught about medical risks, what to treat, and what to leave alone (basically, almost everything!) For sports, our state has to have a medical person present or on call for all sporting events. At the very least, that person has to write up a report for ANYTHING that occurs!

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Thank you all for the info. I know that I will continue to put on bandaids on boo boos, I will continue to hug my students, I will continue to hold the wastebasket when they are vomiting, I will continue to put cool cloths on their heads while we wait for Mom to come and get them, etc. I just really feel uncomfortable with the medications. I am NOT a nurse, I am a teacher. I know the school secretary will probably end up with this job. I feel for her....she is very overworked. I understand many of you saying you have no problem with your children being given medication by someone with no medical experience....I just don't really want to be that person. I would never let any harm come to any children, I would never stand by and let a child bleed, etc. but the medicine thing I just don't feel comfortable with. I have 20 students to take care of. I can't sit with a sick child and sometimes there is no one in the school office. Things at lunchtime get hectic and what if the medication is forgotten ............I hate these budgets. We have someone cut the lawn, we have someone take out the garbage and clean the windows but we cannot budget for a nurse????? Come on something is wrong here. I would give up a portion of my pay....and let me tell you it is not much....(I am not complaining I love my job) just to have the piece of mind of a nurse or a health aide in the building. Sometimes I wonder what our society has as priorities...........health care of children and education of children seems to be pretty low on the list. Again, thank you for all the information. It makes me feel a little better to hear how others handle this situation. I know I will do this, what is the alternative....there is no union here and I love my kids. I hope that somehow there is a budget that allows for a health aide.

 

[fanofmickey]

In our County, we do have school nurses, but we have only had them for a few years. Before that time, our PTA made that one of their funding priorities - they paid for a 1/2 day nurse each day.

I am not familiar with Catholic Schools, but you must have some type of PTA organization. Perhaps this is something that they should consider?

 

[Daxx]

wow! Law or no, the liability is the issue. You could lose everthing you own if a parent doesn't like what you do to their kid (the exception is giving CPR - they can't sure you for trying to give CPR - or the hemlich maneuver).

Exactly!

Do you have a union? Sounds like a union issue to me.

No, not a union issue ... a budge issue here in Buffalo, NY. Anyway, I'm in a Catholic school and we have no union.

But maybe your parents will start sending kids somehwhere else when they hear of the changes...that will inspire change!

That would only serve to close my school. If students leave my Catholic school b/c of the nurse situation, that would give the Bishop one more reason to close our school. As for the Buffalo schools, the parents would have to move to the suburbs and send their kids to those schools ... don't think that'll happen!

I doubt there are many schools out there with defibrillators

If I am not mistaken, it is a NY State law that all schools have defibs. and some staff trained to use them. Fortunately, our entire staff was trained!

Thank you all for the info. I know that I will continue to put on bandaids on boo boos, I will continue to hug my students, I will continue to hold the wastebasket when they are vomiting, I will continue to put cool cloths on their heads while we wait for Mom to come and get them, etc. I just really feel uncomfortable with the medications. I am NOT a nurse, I am a teacher. I know the school secretary will probably end up with this job. I feel for her....she is very overworked. I understand many of you saying you have no problem with your children being given medication by someone with no medical experience....I just don't really want to be that person. I would never let any harm come to any children, I would never stand by and let a child bleed, etc. but the medicine thing I just don't feel comfortable with. I have 20 students to take care of. I can't sit with a sick child and sometimes there is no one in the school office. Things at lunchtime get hectic and what if the medication is forgotten ............I hate these budgets. We have someone cut the lawn, we have someone take out the garbage and clean the windows but we cannot budget for a nurse????? Come on something is wrong here. I would give up a portion of my pay....and let me tell you it is not much....(I am not complaining I love my job) just to have the piece of mind of a nurse or a health aide in the building. Sometimes I wonder what our society has as priorities...........health care of children and education of children seems to be pretty low on the list. Again, thank you for all the information. It makes me feel a little better to hear how others handle this situation. I know I will do this, what is the alternative....there is no union here and I love my kids. I hope that somehow there is a budget that allows for a health aide.

I completely agree w/all of your points!!! I, too, would give up pay for a school nurse (and have said so in an earlier post). Like you, I will continue to take care of my students and have a dual role as teacher/nurse.

 

[momof2inPA]

My kids go to Catholic school, but the public school's nurse will come in as needed (not everyday to administer medicine, but if there's an injury or illness). The teachers and office staff are trained to use the epi-pen and will giver benadryl or an inhaler if needed. I think that's pretty standard for any school district, along with the Ritalin and nebulizers. If you're uncomfortable, I would ask the principal if the office staff or she, herself could take over that duty.