Student Allergy Shots

[NanaPoo]

I have a parent asking if I may administer twice weekly allergy shots to their son who is a student at our 400 student private school.

It's my understanding that these must be administered under the supervision of a physician. I want to have the right information for our principal and this parent. What should I say?

[ohiobobcat]

My daughter's allergist will not allow the shots to be administered unless the provider administering the shots has a code cart handy. My daughter has reacted about an hour after an allergy shot, too. Luckily, she was with me at my physical therapy appointment and I hauled her and her stridorous breathing upstairs in a wheelchair to the ER (which is also where I worked at the time), gimping along on my barely healed ankle fracture. I didn't have an epi-pen for her then, but you can bet I do now. Because of that personal experience alone, I would NEVER administer allergy shots in my office.

[SchoolNurseTXstyle]

Don't do it, too much liability! To me, the school nurse is available for things that arise during the school day and for students who have chronic illnesses in which they have needs during the school day. Allergy shots are something that can and SHOULD be handled outside of school. Even if it was not a huge liability (which IT IS), it also opens up your door to provide all kinds of stuff that should be taken care of at home.

I wish we could bill insurance and such for the services we provide. That would take care of those frequent fliers for sure.