Administering Tylenol to a friend

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Hi everyone, I'm a second semester nursing student and today in class my professor said something interesting I had never considered. We are learning about medication administration currently and her question was: "Your best friend is at your house and complains of a headache. She asks you for some of your Tylenol. Do you give it to her?" Almost everyone said yes that it was ok because it was your friend, not in your job setting, and she was a consenting adult capable of making her own decision to take the medication. Our professor said that was wrong and that you can't give any medication to your friend because you are not a licensed prescriber and you could lose your license if something happened your friend. She also said that same applies to your own children. So what are you supposed to do if your kid is sick and needs cough medication? You're always accountable if something bad were to happen?

If a friend or family member is asking me for OTC medication for a headache or something trivial, I wouldn't think twice about it (unless I knew they shouldn't be taking it for whatever reason). If they asked for prescription medication I have, definitely not.

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
I can't find any state's good sam law that defines an emergency by whether or not the person recognized it as an emergency at the time. Going to the ED for a headache is not the standard of care. Answering the question does not establish a nurse-patient relationship.

But can you find a state's Good Sam law that protects an individual outside of a scene of an emergency? Because this either is 1. not the scene of an emergency or 2. not reasonable care if it were an emergency. At least it could be argued that way legally.

Going to the ED for a headache is not the standard of care. Going to the ED for a thunderclap headache absolutely is the standard of care. Which was described in the scenario?

An individual presenting a health concern to a known licensed healthcare professional who evaluates the complaint, forms an assessment, and then gives advice establishing a plan could very well be considered an establishment of duty. It varies by state but generally if it can pass a foreseeability test it can be considered duty. Could the nurse in this case have foreseen the possibility of a life threatening condition based on his/her education and professional role?

I am playing devil's advocate here but it's important nurses think about these types of things, and carry appropriate insurance.

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Specializes in Urology, HH, med/Surg.

Thanks Boston- educational as always! I've been researching Good Sam laws for my state (which, btw covers vets & dentists when they render aid in an emergency as well--who knew?!)

But can not find one line addressing 'outside of emergency situations'. So I suppose that would be what would have to be defined?

I did find this snippet on a general site & found it helpful....

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Specializes in Hospice.
margin, we should pop up the flu thread.

There hasn't been enough drama on AN lately

Seriously?? Have you been reading some of the newer threads?? [emoji33][emoji33]. (Hehehe)

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Oh good grief.

Bestie: do you have any Tylenol?

Me: yeah, in the pantry.

Though Dogen's post made it all worth it!

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Hi everyone, I'm a second semester nursing student and today in class my professor said something interesting I had never considered. We are learning about medication administration currently and her question was: "Your best friend is at your house and complains of a headache. She asks you for some of your Tylenol. Do you give it to her?" Almost everyone said yes that it was ok because it was your friend, not in your job setting, and she was a consenting adult capable of making her own decision to take the medication. Our professor said that was wrong and that you can't give any medication to your friend because you are not a licensed prescriber and you could lose your license if something happened your friend. She also said that same applies to your own children. So what are you supposed to do if your kid is sick and needs cough medication? You're always accountable if something bad were to happen?

I also heard a very similar lecture from an instructor in nursing school. However, allowing a friend access to my personal bottle of Tylenol is not the same as actually administering it as a nurse. If a friend is visiting my home as says, "I have a headache. May I borrow some Tylenol?" and I reply "Sure. Here is the bottle", then my friend has just self-administered an OTC medication. If he/she is not sure how many to take or how often to take them then I can refer my friend to the directions on the bottle. In this situation I have not administered any medication or offered any medical advice.

I would also argue that the right to self-administer OTC medication extends to a one's own child since the legal guardian of a child has the authority to make decisions on behalf of the child.

I think that your instructor picked a poor example to make his/her point but the point still stands. Nurses do need to be aware of the extra liability and responsibly that comes with being a licensed professional. However, a little common sense goes a long way and there is no need to live in fear that normal life will somehow endanger your nursing license.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

There is a semantic difference between "assisting" with medications and "administering" medications. Thats how caretakers are allowed to "assist" with medications for residents in assisted living facilities. Its kind of silly and somewhat grey to me, but I think this subject is kind of related.

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Specializes in Behavioral Health.
Going to the ED for a headache is not the standard of care. Going to the ED for a thunderclap headache absolutely is the standard of care. Which was described in the scenario?

OP wrote: "Your best friend ... complains of a headache." It doesn't seem rational to assume other, specific information was offered to the OP without more to go on. If this is all we have to work with (like an NCLEX question, assuming no more and no less) then the most likely diagnoses are mild dehydration and tension.

Could the nurse in this case have foreseen the possibility of a life threatening condition based on his/her education and professional role?

I am playing devil's advocate here but it's important nurses think about these types of things, and carry appropriate insurance.

This is actually the thing that catches my eye from time to time around here. Why do so many of these conversations turn immediately to what horrible, statistically unlikely thing might be secretly waiting to kill your friends and ruin your career?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying no one should ever worry about SDH or EDH or whatever. Nurses should think about these things, but they should do it based on evidence, not because people have made them paranoid catastrophe is lurking inside every mundane headache.

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One of the students in my class had a headache yesterday and asked for some Tylenol or aspirin. So one of the students gave her a bottle of aspirin so she could take some. No ethical dilemma there.

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Maybe, just maybe, instructor meant that you can get the bottle out of your medicine cabinet and let your friend get her own Tylenol. She took her own dose of OTC meds (which do not need an MD order in a non-clinical setting) and you technically did NOT administer it. Otherwise, she's full of mud.

And yes, Wheat Thins! LOL

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You guys don't even want to know the meds I've given my friends.

With beer. :bag:

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This is just weird bat-doodle nonsense and the polar opposite of what I was told in lvn school. Our first day the instructor told us we could kill ten people before they took our license.

I went home and had the freakiest nightmare where I was walking down a line of beds taking blood pressures and one by one they would die. The fun bit was my instructor counting them off behind me..that's one..that's two..that's three..

I'm about to start an RN program next month and I'm not sure what I'll do if a teacher starts feeding me that kind of bull.

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