Cough drops

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I am allowed to dispense cough drops per standing order in my school. I buy cheap ones in boxes of 1200.

In the month of September I went through 1 box plus some of cough drops. So probably about 1400 cough drops. IN ONE MONTH!!!!!

I went through 1 box (1200) for the entire school year last year.

I have students stop in ALL DAY LONG asking for cough drops. They leave in the middle of class just for cough drops. They come to my office between classes and get cough drops. They even come after school for cough drops.

Sometimes it's the same student. Sometimes it's all different students. Sometimes it's an afterthought. Like "Can I have ibuprofen for my headache? Oh! And can I get some cough drops?" I even had one student come in and take some "for the weekend, because we can't afford them." I was in the middle of something else when she said this so I didn't have time to stop her, plus I felt kind of bad.

I have started telling people I am out of cough drops (even though I am not) to see if this will curb down on the visits. But it hasn't.

So what do I do? Keep giving them out? Stop giving them out all together? Limit to 2? Then they'll be back for more before class even ends (We have 80 minute blocks in our school).

How do you handle cough drops at your school?

Specializes in Home Health,Dialysis, MDS, School Nurse.

We can't dispense anything, not even cough drops, without parent permission (and the parent supplying the med) . I am thinking of trying to implement a parent permission form for OTC's for next year, but keep going back and forth on if I even want to mess with it. Not if I have to hand out 1000 cough drops per month!

I keep a minimal of everything at all times. It keeps kids from just taking tons. Does that make sense?

For example, I have a tray with a water pitcher, 3 oz Dixie cups, and a bottle of hand sanitizer. If the stack of Dixie cups is huge (like 15-20 cups) & the water pitcher is full kids will go crazy like it's water buffet day. I have to keep only 3-4 cups in the stack and the pitcher nearly empty as though the world is nearly out of water.

Same for the hand sanitizer. If that pump is full, they'll take a bath in the stuff. But if it appears to be running out, they'll take only the small amount they need. It's all a weird mental game I have to play.

Same with cough drops. I have certain kids that prefer to take them frequently so I keep my little jars looking as if they're about to run out-2 or 3 in the bottom of a big glass jar. If the kids knew I have a year's supply of the things in my closet they'd shove their cheeks and pockets full like little crazed chipmunks. There's one kid in particular that taught me this lesson and I have to tell him, "they're all gone, you ate them all."

I do all this too! It works!

I have a sign on my cough drops that says "Cough drops are not candy, please take only one"

Repeat offenders get a call home to tell the parent that if they have a sore throat/cough for so long a doctor's visit is in order.

I also start pushing salt water which they don't want to do.

Specializes in ED, School Nurse.

Like I said, I have standing orders for them. The only medications I need parental permission for in my standing orders are tylenol/ibuprofen.

I need to get some salt. Then I can start the salt water gargle thing instead. My cough drop jar actually says COUGH DROPS NOT CANDY on it. Ha ha.

Maybe I should have my students gargle saltines!!! That should work, right?!

"We had to get rid of petroleum jelly a couple of years ago (I keep a stash anyway). "

I was suppose to throw mine out also but being the rebel I am, well that just didn't happen.

We can't dispense anything, not even cough drops, without parent permission (and the parent supplying the med) . I am thinking of trying to implement a parent permission form for OTC's for next year, but keep going back and forth on if I even want to mess with it. Not if I have to hand out 1000 cough drops per month!

We do not have any stock medicines where I am currently. I have been in schools that does it both ways. I greatly prefer the parents having to provide any and all OTC's. I have attached my Health Enrollment form that has the OTC permission right on it. I have also attached the separate permission form, in case the parent didn't include Tylenol or whatever need comes up during the year. I hope this may be of some help.

2015-16 NEWEST Health Enrollment Form. working copy (Recovered).docx

Grundy R-V med permission form revised 09.25.15.docx

Like I said, I have standing orders for them. The only medications I need parental permission for in my standing orders are tylenol/ibuprofen.

I need to get some salt. Then I can start the salt water gargle thing instead. My cough drop jar actually says COUGH DROPS NOT CANDY on it. Ha ha.

Maybe I should have my students gargle saltines!!! That should work, right?!

Yessss! You would be a genius!! This would help the sore throat and head off the impending belly ache in one visit!!

Thankfully we no longer have stock medication (tylenol, motrin, cough drops, etc). Parents are required to provide all medication. But before the policy changed we had cough drops to hand out - I would purchase the most methanol tasting ones I could find - alot of the kids did not like the taste, I would only purchase 2 large boxes per year and when I ran out...oh well.

I now do what others have posted. parents send in the cough drops and I hand out a few for the day for a couple of days and if the student continues to use them I call the parents - sometimes parents had no idea the kid was using them for 2 or 3 days in a row.

I don't keep cough drops. I will dole out parent-provided with a permission slip, but generally send a few to the classroom for the teacher to keep. I don't like the idea of a kid roaming the halls with a cough drop (choke hazard) and I am not going to have them sit in the clinic for the time it takes to eat one. To those of you who have gotten rid of Vaseline...curious why.

No cough drops.

I'm assuming kids carry their own. I can't sweat over this. If it ever becomes an issue, then I'll send home an email.

I've never had anyone be stopped in the hall for illicit cough drop use.

I have them gargle.

Specializes in School Nursing, Hospice,Med-Surg.

Ilicit cough drop use...LOL

I have saltines but even those are magical treats for my kids. I keep them hidden for emergency purposes.

I keep fruit chews and juice boxes strictly for my diabetic emergencies. Those are super-hidden & only my diabetic kids know how to find them.

Oh...and I had to edit to ask why get rid of petroleum jelly??

Specializes in School Nursing, Telemetry.

We don't keep stock cough drops. Parents can bring in a small stash of cough drops (we are limiting to a week's supply this year), that we may administer. Some kids who are really trying to get out of class will come in constantly for them if they know they're there. After a couple approaches, I tell them they can't have anymore. What does your standing order say? Does it limit time frame (like every two hours?). I'd deny the frequent fliers. I can't imagine what it would be like if kids knew that there were cough drops to be had in the health room...it sounds like madness.

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