Grandparent's medications pose danger to children.

DeeAngel · Dec 30, 2010

maybe the girl thought they were stickers?

A 10 year old should be old enough to read the warning signs and realize that what she had in her hand was not a sticker! At 10 years old I would have absolutely realized that what I held in my hand was medicine and a very dangerous medicine at that.

That girl would be a fifth grader for crying out loud, old enough to know better if her education was on track.

CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2010

A 10 year old should be old enough to read the warning signs and realize that what she had in her hand was not a sticker! At 10 years old I would have absolutely realized that what I held in my hand was medicine and a very dangerous medicine at that.
That girl would be a fifth grader for crying out loud, old enough to know better if her education was on track.

I have a 9.5 yr old and an 11 yr old (birthday yesterday) and a 6 yr old. They would all know not to mess with grammas meds.

TDCHIM · Dec 30, 2010

A 10 year old should be old enough to read the warning signs and realize that what she had in her hand was not a sticker! At 10 years old I would have absolutely realized that what I held in my hand was medicine and a very dangerous medicine at that.
That girl would be a fifth grader for crying out loud, old enough to know better if her education was on track.

I turned ten when I was in 4th grade, and at that age I might not have understood what one of the patches was or that it was medicine if I'd just seen a patch alone - they're pretty nondescript. However, the packaging materials (boxes and individual patch pouches) from the brands I've seen all have bright-colored warnings splashed all over them. It would be hard to miss them or to misunderstand that what was inside was a dangerous item. So unless she found a couple of used patches somewhere and managed to get them to stick, I would have expected a child of her age to know to stay away from this medication. That's partly why I'm afraid she may have been experimenting with Grandma's medication.

Trauma Columnist · Dec 30, 2010

At 10 a child knows they aren't suckers. And how did she have access to them.

GHGoonette, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2010

I agree, at 10 she should know better. The only alternative I can think of is that she thought they were ordinary plasters.

But sadly, she's probably starting her "experimental phase" a little early; hopefully it doesn't kill her and she will grow up a little wiser....

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2010

Well- one would hope a 10 year old would know better....

However, children do stupidly dangerous things ALL THE TIME without fulling understanding the ramifications of their actions. They are still children, after all. There is a reason kids are kids and are to be protected until the age of 18. They screw up. Hopefully not to the point that it causes their deaths or the deaths of others..

Kids should know better than to 'check out' their parents guns, yet they do it, often with deadly consequences. Kids know not to run into the street- yet often they do without any thought of what might be driving by..

Kids 'should' know better.. and even when they do.. they make stupid choices. That's why they are kids and we are there to protect them.

The medicine should not have been easily within her reach.. but it might have also been the case that she had no exposure to drug 'patches' in the past and equated drugs with pill bottles, not with sticky patchy things. Maybe Grandma was visiting for the holidays, and nobody realized to warn her about the danger of the drug patch and Grandma, thinking she 'knew better' didn't think anything of leaving her meds sitting on the bathroom sink. The curious 10 year old though, hmm, what is this? And, well, we know the rest.

I hope she pulls out of this. What a horrible accident.

AprilRNurse · Dec 30, 2010

maybe the girl thought they were stickers?

At 10? We are talking a 5th grader here.... Unless she has disabilities, I'm thinking she knew exactly what she was doing.

AprilRNurse · Dec 30, 2010

I turned ten when I was in 4th grade, and at that age I might not have understood what one of the patches was or that it was medicine if I'd just seen a patch alone - they're pretty nondescript. However, the packaging materials (boxes and individual patch pouches) from the brands I've seen all have bright-colored warnings splashed all over them. It would be hard to miss them or to misunderstand that what was inside was a dangerous item. So unless she found a couple of used patches somewhere and managed to get them to stick, I would have expected a child of her age to know to stay away from this medication. That's partly why I'm afraid she may have been experimenting with Grandma's medication.

But surely you knew to leave other people's things alone?

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2010

I think anyone who thinks this kid was looking to get high or knew the dangers of what she was doing and did them anyway has a pretty dim view on young children.

allnurses Guide · Dec 30, 2010

Well- one would hope a 10 year old would know better....
However, children do stupidly dangerous things ALL THE TIME without fulling understanding the ramifications of their actions. They are still children, after all. There is a reason kids are kids and are to be protected until the age of 18. They screw up. Hopefully not to the point that it causes their deaths or the deaths of others..
Kids should know better than to 'check out' their parents guns, yet they do it, often with deadly consequences. Kids know not to run into the street- yet often they do without any thought of what might be driving by..
Kids 'should' know better.. and even when they do.. they make stupid choices. That's why they are kids and we are there to protect them.
The medicine should not have been easily within her reach.. but it might have also been the case that she had no exposure to drug 'patches' in the past and equated drugs with pill bottles, not with sticky patchy things. Maybe Grandma was visiting for the holidays, and nobody realized to warn her about the danger of the drug patch and Grandma, thinking she 'knew better' didn't think anything of leaving her meds sitting on the bathroom sink. The curious 10 year old though, hmm, what is this? And, well, we know the rest.
I hope she pulls out of this. What a horrible accident.

:bow: :rckn::nmbrn:

Great post.

steph

allnurses Guide · Dec 30, 2010

I think anyone who thinks this kid was looking to get high or knew the dangers of what she was doing and did them anyway has a pretty dim view on young children.

The timing of this thread after the pill bottle with chocolate covered sunflower seeds thread is interesting.

Another good post by the way. :up:

steph

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2010

But surely you knew to leave other people's things alone?

Sure- but are you telling me that childhood curiosity never got the best of you? Or any of your kids? There is a reason children can't sign legally binding documents before the age of 18. If we can't expect a 17 year old to make the right choice on a piece of paper, how can you expect a 10 year old to make responsible choices in every situation presented to her?