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

[D L and K's Mom]

I am a very frustrated first grade teacher. I teach in a Catholic School. We have just found out that the school district will not be giving us a school nurse....at all for this year! I am horrified. Our Principal told us that we will be giving out the medications (Ritilin etc.) She said that there maybe a parent in the nurse's office.....a parent not a nurse or a health aide. I am so uncomfortable with this. Also I have a child with a SEVERE nut allergy in m y class this year as wel as one with severe asthma. I have been trained using the EPI pen and have no problem using that if I have to but I am very uncomfortable giving out other medicines and giving out medical care. I am not trained as a nurse. The Principal said since we all have first aid and CPR we can handle it.......YIKES. I feel that it is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Please, dont get me wrong, I can put anticeptic and a bandaid on a scraped knee etc..but I dont feel right about some of the other things......stomach aches, head bumps, asthma and inhalers etc. Anyone know the law? We are in NY.......I think this is horrible but I bet this is a common thing now that school districts are cutting back. DH just keeps telling me to call the parents whenever I feel the situation is not something I can handle. I still feel uncomfortable......kids can have stomach aches and no fever and have appendix attacks etc. I am not trained to see the symptoms......anyone else have this problem...........

 

[powellrj]

our schools stopped having nurses several years ago. We have a nurse 1/2 day one day a week. I think she uses that day to make sure all children are up to date on shots and paperwork and to do required eye and hearing tests. The office staff just takes care of sickness and injuries.

 

[Miller1412]

Wow, in DE it's illegal to administer as much as SUNSCREEN without taking some type of medical training. We are unable to give any medications. We even have to take a nurse with us on field trips if we have a child with a medical condition and their parent can not attend.

 

[shelby_36]

Anyone at our school cn adminiser prescription meds with the proper dr paperwork. We haven't had a school nurse here in years until last year (and its only for the paperwork part 1/2 day once a week thing)

e are not however allowed to adminster ANYTHING ELSE..no antiseptic, not even a bandaid!!! I do give out bandaids (are they going to arrest me/) although i make the kid clean it and put the bandaid on it. My sons old school wouldn't even give hima bandaid when he fell on the playground and by the time he got home he had blood on his pants, his sock and in his shoe. I was furious!

 

[Laz]

I am also a Catholic School Teacher, yet we have a nurse in every morning. In the afternoons we send the kids to the office. We each have a emergency first aide kit in our rooms to give simple first aid. It is a tricky situation because on the one hand you are not a medical person, yet as the teacher, you are the responsible adult. I would make sure YOU have all the signed paperwork, and contact every parent who's child has a medical condition. DOCUMENT the contact.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Wow that would freak me out. I don't blame you and yes you are liable.

Even if the parents sign a waiver that doesn't really hold up, but I suppose something is better than nothing.

Can your school have a medical type form, along with the child's doctor info???? The school should do "something" to give you some protection, right?

 

[Christine]

Well, of course, I wouldn't want to do it, but I don't understand your fear. You, of course, should have documentation in the classroom for the medications. The only concern I would have is that it is going to take time from your teaching to administer the daily medications.

Besides that, you do not need medical training to administer Ritalin, asthma medication, and other such things. I am a parent who is not a nurse or doctor and I give these things to my child every day. It is no big deal. My son also has a nut allergy and I have to have the Epi-Pen too.

My real gripe would be that you may have to "dose" many children each day. That seems very disruptive to your teaching schedule.

My son goes to a Catholic school and it is part of our tuition costs to have a nurse. In fact, we have two nurses (both are part-time) but that works out in case one of the nurses is sick. We also have parent volunteers with the nurses and many of them administer meds because sometimes there are too many kids there. Since you are in a private school systems, it seems to me that they need to increase to tuition to cover the cost of a nurse.

 

[Beth76]

I've worked in two different preschools and we've never had a nurse. I know in one school we were able to give medicine with proper documentation (can't remember about the other one). Yes, we were also able to put band-aids on the kids. I can't imagine not being able to do that. We were all CPR certified and if something came up that we couldn't handle we would call the parents and send the kid home or call 911. No big deal. OK so the 911 call was a big deal, but the child turned out to be fine.

 

[Pinnie]

I teach in a large suburban public school district in Michigan and have NEVER had a school nurse in the 30 years I have been teaching. I also have 3 EPI-PEN children this year and a couple on inhalers. Our district REQUIRES parents and physicians to fill out a detailed form about medications either prescription OR over the counter. Except for the EPI's and Inhalers, ALL meds are kept in a LOCKED cabinet in the office. There are forms that are filled out whenever a child is given meds (ritalin, etc) and intialed by the person giving it out. Parents must have meds in a correctly LABELED container and a count of the pills left is taken every day.

I can put a bandaid on a scrape, but I also have to fill out an "accident report" about it and notify the parents and have them sign it.

pinnie

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Anyone at our school cn adminiser prescription meds with the proper dr paperwork. We haven't had a school nurse here in years until last year (and its only for the paperwork part 1/2 day once a week thing)

e are not however allowed to adminster ANYTHING ELSE..no antiseptic, not even a bandaid!!! I do give out bandaids (are they going to arrest me/) although i make the kid clean it and put the bandaid on it. My sons old school wouldn't even give hima bandaid when he fell on the playground and by the time he got home he had blood on his pants, his sock and in his shoe. I was furious!

Yes you need to have paper work ot give out meds personally, there is no way I would do it. What if you mix up meds or forget to adminsiter. NOPE either have hte parents come in and do it OR bring back the school nurse. I also will give out a band aid but not put it on or clean the cut. IT is sad that we have become a society that is so willing to sue and go after anyone that something as common and decent as putting a band aid on a kid is a problem.

 

[sfskgn]

Hi,
I teach in a Catholic school in PA and we only have nurse from the school district visit once a month. The children who need to take medications bring them up to the office and the secretary HANDS the child the medicine( pills), and watches the child take it. In PA teachers cannot give out medications. If it is a liquid medicine then the parent must come in to give the medicine.

 

[disykat]

No nurse here either. We have 600 students and a nurse one day a week. Like another poster said, she is responsible for the medical plans, health screenings, and paperwork (immunizations, etc.) - not medication distribution. That is handled by the office staff.

I have never worked at, or attended, a school with a full time nurse. Even in the 60's when I was in school, a parent or the office staff distributed meds and kept the associated paper work. While teaching I have had kids with some pretty big medical issues (colostomy bags, diabetes, etc.) and they also have been dealt with through the office. My job has always been to help monitor and then call for help or send the child to the office.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

My mother was the guidance office secretary at the middle school in my hometown for 21 years. One of her duties was the health room. She often had parent volunteers, but not always. I remember once a girl my age tripped out on something and it completely freaked my mom out.
Where I work we have had a nurse for 6 years, but only because we have continuously had at least one wheelchair bound student with spina bifida that entire time. When our last one graduates this next May I wonder if we'll lose her. It's great to have a nurse on staff.
I am always asked for bandaids too, but usually for HS stuff like hangnails or broken nails. We saw a video on transmitting HIV once and they showed a kid who had fallen and had a bloody spot on his leg with gravel in it and the teacher just brushing off the gravel. You aren't supposed to touch any blood from any kid, ever. We have vinyl gloves in every classroom just in case (not much need at the HS level). They really stink up the drawer they are in! But we have kids with latex allergies so we can't use latex gloves.
Robin M.

 

[Sparx]

yikes! my school has three nurses! There is always a nurse there.

 

[Daxx]

Anyone know the law? We are in NY.......

I am in NY, too ... at a Catholic school as well. We have no school nurse. I am "allowed" to dispense medication as long as I have instructions from a parent.

Meds are kept in my desk (in a drawer, no lock) or in the teacher's lounge fridge and I dispense as directions state for my students. I don't like the idea of being responsible for this ... but what can I do? It's due to the budget cuts here in Buffalo. DS8 is in a different Catholic school (outside the Buffalo school district) and they have a full time nurse on duty.

While I'm trained in CPR and First Aid, and would *hopefully* be able to handle most situations, I still worry about what might happen to one of my students.

Oh, how I long for a nurse in our school. I'd be willing to take a paycut for a nurse ... just to add the peace of mind that someone with the professional training is there.

Warmly,
Daxx's Wife

 

[aprilgail2]

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!

 

[kadaten]

I went to Catholic school and my aunt still teaches there. In 30 years they have never had a nurse, nor has any of the other Catholic schools in our city. The "office" was responsible for giving out medications. It was handled by Mrs. Lewis, the secretary. She was the only one who gave out meds...that way there was no question whether a child had or had not received medication from someone else. She handled all the paperwork. If a child hadn't come in for their meds as they were supposed to, she went to find them and got them their meds. Parents were required to fill out paperwork at the beginning of the school year for medicine to be dispensed, and all meds had to be in their original container, properly labeled with prescription. If parents wanted to give medication themselves, they were more than welcome to come to school at the right time each day to give it.

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?

I worked in child care for 8 years (daycare and preschool settings), including 3 years with a medically fragile child in our care (heart condition, asthma, severe allergies, etc). We never had a nurse on staff. In some of the settings I, as the teacher, was responsible for giving out meds. In other places, the director handled all that, just to have a centralized control point for meds. I have always cleaned cuts and scrapes and provided band-aids when needed. I just can't imagine doing otherwise.

 

[Christine]

I went to Catholic school and my aunt still teaches there. In 30 years they have never had a nurse, nor has any of the other Catholic schools in our city. The "office" was responsible for giving out medications. It was handled by Mrs. Lewis, the secretary. She was the only one who gave out meds...that way there was no question whether a child had or had not received medication from someone else. She handled all the paperwork. If a child hadn't come in for their meds as they were supposed to, she went to find them and got them their meds. Parents were required to fill out paperwork at the beginning of the school year for medicine to be dispensed, and all meds had to be in their original container, properly labeled with prescription. If parents wanted to give medication themselves, they were more than welcome to come to school at the right time each day to give it.

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?

I worked in child care for 8 years (daycare and preschool settings), including 3 years with a medically fragile child in our care (heart condition, asthma, severe allergies, etc). We never had a nurse on staff. In some of the settings I, as the teacher, was responsible for giving out meds. In other places, the director handled all that, just to have a centralized control point for meds. I have always cleaned cuts and scrapes and provided band-aids when needed. I just can't imagine doing otherwise.

kadaten--
I agree with you and I'm a parent of a peanut allergic, asthmatic, eczema, ADHD child. I've got a regular "pharmacy" up at the school. We *do* have a nurse but she doesn't come until 8:00 a.m. My son's Ritalin is administered at 7:30 a.m. by the daycare staff. As I said earlier, I'm not a doctor/nurse but I have no problem reading the directions and giving my son his medication. My only "gripe" with this is that the teacher has to take the time out of teaching to administer medication to several children each day. Our teachers can just dismiss the kids to the office whenever it is time for their medication. The OP actually has to dispense and administer meds. When you have 30 kids in your class and probably 5 or more on meds each day, that just seems like a hassle.

 

[clh2]

While I don't see why the OP should fret about dispensing medications that are clearly labeled, with clear instructions from the parents, i.e. no guesswork involved. Most of us parents do this all the time, and few of us have a medical background.

Where I do have a problem is: how many students, how often, who is going to record that medicine was administered (a requirement in Wisconsin) where are the medicines going to be locked up (I believe also a requirement in WI.) Who would be responsible for making sure that the parent knew that they needed a refill. THe main problem here is how much time this activity is taking from the real job of teaching the kids.

If anyone in your class is diabetic and needing to count carbs and take insulin as well as doing the blood test to determine how much insulin is needed - that to me would be too big of a responsibility, IMO.

Plus - what happens if there is a sub. Is he/she going to know which kids are on which drugs?

 

[Daxx]

Are you also trained in using a difibulator?

All teachers in my school are trained to use the difibulator. New teachers coming in this year must attend a mandatory seminar on using the difib.
All teachers in DS's school were also trained in defib. use.

I do not know if this is a district/county/whatever-wide standard, though.