End of year meds?

[chasinRT]

Do you folks send meds home with elementary-age kids at the end of the year? A school-nurse checklist that I got somewhere (new school nurse orientation?) has "send meds home with written parent permission" as one of the close-the-clinic items. I refused last year, as I feel that the last day of a school is no less dangerous than any other day of the year. But the checklist made me wonder what you all do. I did let my intermediate kids take their inhalers. Your thoughts?

[SnugglePuggle, MSN, RN]

I do not send medications home with my middle school students, with the exception of EpiPens and inhalers as long as the student has a self-carry permit. I send out letters to the parents 1 month in advance reminding them to pick up medication by the end of my last workday. I do not store medication over the summer and dispose of anything not picked-up. Written parental permission does not absolve liability should the medication end up in the wrong hands.

[kidzcare]

I do not send medications home with my middle school students, with the exception of EpiPens and inhalers as long as the student has a self-carry permit. I send out letters to the parents 1 month in advance reminding them to pick up medication by the end of my last workday. I do not store medication over the summer and dispose of anything not picked-up. Written parental permission does not absolve liability should the medication end up in the wrong hands.

Yep, this is exactly what I was going to type. I sent home the notices stating that any medication not picked up by the end of the last school day will be disposed of and that epi-pens and inhalers will be sent home the last day of school, unless it is requested they be sent home earlier (my way of saying "If your lazy kid is taking the VERY LAST DAY of school off... you better let me know so I can get them their stuff.")

[OldDude]

Well....I know this won't set well with some of you but I don't do anything at the end of the school year about medicine. In my early days I would send out notes and make reminder phone calls and I still had medicine left over when school was out. I stopped sending anything out and the leftover amount didn't change. There are some parents who are interested in this and some not.

[Supernrse01, BSN]

I don't send meds home with students. I go through my med closet and send out letters, usually around 2-3 weeks before the last day. The letter just reminds the parents that at some point during the year, medication was sent in for their child and that it will need to be picked up by the last day of school. It also reminds them that students will not be allowed to transport the medicine and that if it is not picked up, it will be disposed of properly.

[Farawyn]

Well....I know this won't set well with some of you but I don't do anything at the end of the school year about medicine. In my early days I would send out notes and make reminder phone calls and I still had medicine left over when school was out. I stopped sending anything out and the leftover amount didn't change. There are some parents who are interested in this and some not.

The nurse before me kept everything and when I first started I was afraid to get rid of anything. So I have to purge. Every time I open my med cabinet everything falls out on my head.

[SassyTachyRN]

I am finding these replies interesting. My district allows students to take home medications (at nurses discretion) with written parental permission. Our neighboring district where my children attend school does the same.

[100kids, BSN, RN]

Well....I know this won't set well with some of you but I don't do anything at the end of the school year about medicine. In my early days I would send out notes and make reminder phone calls and I still had medicine left over when school was out. I stopped sending anything out and the leftover amount didn't change. There are some parents who are interested in this and some not.

I stopped sending out notes too. Most parents come to me to pick up their child's meds but a few do not. If they are staying here next year I will keep them locked up over the summer if not I dispose of them come the new school year.

[Kittery]

Written parental permission does not absolve liability should the medication end up in the wrong hands.

Our permission form has a place for parents to check that it's okay to send the medication home with student, so I was going to do that, but I'll have to rethink this now... Thanks!

[OldDude]

I am finding these replies interesting. My district allows students to take home medications (at nurses discretion) with written parental permission. Our neighboring district where my children attend school does the same.

I really would advise against sending medicine home with the kids. That's one of those industry standard/nurse practice things that could hold you liable if something goes sour regardless of what the parent permits.

[JamieB86517]

My daughters school nurse sends a note home each year for me to come pick her meds up by week after school ends.

[SnugglePuggle, MSN, RN]

I really would advise against sending medicine home with the kids. That's one of those industry standard/nurse practice things that could hold you liable if something goes sour regardless of what the parent permits.

That is what I was thinking. By putting meds into a student's hand you are making those meds more accessible to all the other students, creating a potentially unsafe environment. What if the student is handed over medication by the nurse and it is dropped in the hallway, picked up by another student and ingested causing harm? Parental permission isn't going to protect you or the school from liability.