OT - what's your school's policy on OTC drugs (like Tylenol)?

[spacemountainmom]

Our schools all have an LPN during the entire school day. Our building actually has two since we house both and elementary and a middle school. The district does have RN's that cover X number of buildings. I don't know how many, but I think our nurse covers at least three schools. I should ask her the next time I see her.

A para covers the health office during the nurse's lunch time. We hope nothing major happens, but if it does the nurse does not leave the building for lunch and we could always go get the nurse from the elementary side of the building.

 

[caitlinsmom]

My 11 yr old has an inhaler in her backpack even though it's against district rules. They are supposed to be kept in the nurses office with everyone else's inhalers. The one time she needed it at school the nurse couldn't find hers in the box of inhalers so I had to drive across town to bring it. 15 minutes of my dd wheezing because the nurse was not organized is not acceptable to me so now she has one in her backpack.

She knows when she needs it, knows how many puffs to take and is responsible.

 

[momto2js]

For kids that have chronic conditions, reasonable measure to keep the kids in class, are not unreasonable accomodation to be made. I was diagned with diabetes when I was 9. I had to leave class to test my sugar and do injections 2 times during the school day. I also had to eat snacks outside the classroom. It disrupted my education, and if it is my kid, in todays educational environment, I will not allow that to be the case.

Life long illnesses need to be handled as much as possible as part of normal life. In the 5th grade I could have tested my sugar at my desk and given the correct insulin with no problem. We did not have a full-time nurse and often a mother voluntered to sit there to call parents if a student was sick. It isn't easy but for kids with chronic illnesses a plan to keep the kid in the classroom as much as possible is REALLY important. As will all policies, there are always exceptions.

 

[AZMermaid]

I teach elementary, but all meds must be kept and administered by the school nurse. This includes all OTC meds and they all need a permission slip. There are a few families that drop off every OTC med imaginable at the start of the year to be held for their child.

Yes, we have a nurse. She rocks! I can not imagine our school without her, in addition to all the nursing stuff, she is also super involved in helping our needier students. But, school nurses are always talked about as being on the chopping blocks for budget reasons. So far, the parents' have always freaked out enough that they keep them. If they ever do do away with them, the plan is to get a "health aide" that splits time between 2 schools.

 

[tmarquez]

Everything here has to go through the nurses office. DD can't even bring chapstick because it says "medicated" on it. No one asked me, but I think it is stupid.

Although DD has walked on the wild side and snuck a chapstick in her pocket and used it in the bathroom stall. Back when I was in school none of this went on...if you were sneaking something in the bathroom...it was a lot more devious than a chapstick!

 

[jodifla]

See, now my question would be:

No nurses in schools??? Every school I know of has nurses...your actually don't have nurses in schools?

Who keeps track of vaccinations? What happens when a child has an asthma attack, or an allergic reaction to something?

Office keeps track of everything. No nurses at the 3 district schools my son has been to so far. Not sure if the middle and high school has them.

 

[JapanNerd]

Well I've been out of High School for almost a year and a half, but I can tell you that when I went to school, they didn't allow things like Tylenol, unless you had someone deliver it to you. Which in my opinion was ridiculous. I understand that some people are allergic, but they wouldn't even allow you to carry it around with you. Which was stupid, I still brought Tylenol anyway, because I never knew if I needed it. I never gave it to anyone else unless I knew they weren't allergic.

 

[pednurse]

I'm a school nurse (RN) at an elementary school. Our district's policy is that ALL medications (prescription & OTC) must be kept in the health office at all times. Kids come down to the health office to take their meds. OTC meds just require a parental permission form, not a doc's note. Prescription meds require both parental permission & doc's note. All meds are kept in a locked cabinet, separately labeled & in containers to keep them organized and easily found. All meds must be in the original, labeled container....and all prescription meds must come in a bottle labeled by the pharmacy (for meds taken at home and at school, the pharmacies will provide a 2nd labeled bottle for school without any difficulty). And, yes, even cough drops are considered meds. If a child at my elementary is found with a med, it is taken to my office and we talk to both the student & parents about the school policy---no one has been expelled---it would have to be a repeat offense (after we have documented the previous time having personally provided the policy information to the parent & student) before they'd take that route.
As for our diabetics & the previously mentioned concern about interrupting education----all snacks are eaten in the classroom, but blood glucose checks and insulin injections are given in my office. Both involve sharps----the lancet for glucose checks & needle for insulin injections---and can't be done in the classroom. As most of that is done around the lunch hour, it does not affect their education as they aren't in the classroom during that time anyway.

 

[ebtbmom]

I'm a school nurse also, in an elementary and middle school. Our policy is that all meds except rescue inhalers, epi-pens, and insulin must be left in the office and dispensed by myself or office staff. OTC needs only a parent signature and px needs parent and dr. Now, I am not an OTC Nazi or anything and I certainly don't go around hasseling kids for having it. I just remind them to leave it at home and don't bring it to school, but I know my middle schoolers do anyway. And honestly, I've given my kid a Benadryl to carry in his pocket before! I would never suggest a kid get suspended for carrying meds unless it was a major offense like passing out Adderall or something. And I usually tell parents, especially ones that I know, to keep things like cough drops on the down low and not broadcast it, because why does an 8th grader need their cough drops locked up?

 

[ebtbmom]

As for our diabetics & the previously mentioned concern about interrupting education----all snacks are eaten in the classroom, but blood glucose checks and insulin injections are given in my office. Both involve sharps----the lancet for glucose checks & needle for insulin injections---and can't be done in the classroom. As most of that is done around the lunch hour, it does not affect their education as they aren't in the classroom during that time anyway.

I find this interesting because in NC we have a law that states that diabetic kids musn't be required to leave their classroom to check their sugar or give insulin. They can if they choose to (usually my middle schoolers do, mostly to roam around the building) but they can't be forced to.