High school, Drugs and consent to tell others

[purityplus]

Hi just a general question... if a student you are aware of is taking drugs from marijuana to hard core or even drinking, at what point (policies aside) do you inform parents or teachers? For example if in your country it is illegal for all drugs and alchol=underage drinking do you inform teachers if it may impact on that teens learning/safety? Do you inform the police? At what point do you go outside student privacy? Cheers.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

We have a zero tolerance policy. If a student is suspected to be under the influence, it is an immediate referral to the student assistance counselor, an administrator and the school nurse for an assessment and determination if a student needs to be sent out for further medical tx and eval. At the same time, the student resource officer (uniformed police) is called to be present. The same process is completed if drugs/alcohol are found on a student, regardless of whether or not they appear to be under the influence.

Parents are contacted immediately in all cases. They are responsible for picking a student up within 2 hours to get a student evaluated by teh school physician. If a parent refuses or is farther out than 2 hours, then EMS is called and the student is taken to the nearest ER.

The after care almost always includes some type of mandatory drug counseling sessions (out patient usually, lengeth depends case to case).

Regarding privacy - this is viewed more as an administrative issue, rather than a health issue. Discussions are limited to the people directly involved. I still protect a student's right to privacy, but it is also necessary for me to share the results of my assessment with the others involved.

[mycsm]

if a student is suspected to be under the influence, the parents have 2 hours to come and get treated immediately with a police escort......if they are not able to come EMS is called. We want results asap. Some parents will take the kid to get tested.....8 HOURS LATER! As the school nurse, I am not the one they see, the principal ask one simple question to the teacher reporting, "do you belive Joe Schmo is under the influence?" yes or no.