Just Soap and Water

Flare, ASN, BSN · Oct 9, 2012

i get a list approved by the school MD of typical otc type products - bactine, calamine, vaseline, eye wash, contact solution, alcohol, lotion, a&D, etc. I made it a point to add sting swabs. No neosporin, though (too many allergies).

duckieRN · Oct 9, 2012

I wish we had a district MD! We had one in my previous district but not here.

caregiver1977 · Oct 9, 2012

Only soap and water? Wow! What do you all do for anything serious?

Wave Watcher · Oct 10, 2012

Insect sting = Ice.

Rash = Depending on if it looks suspicious/contagious or not....otherwise we are allowed to use anti-itch cream.

Jolie, BSN · Oct 10, 2012

Please check your nurse practice act and district policies and procedures. The nurses' use of soap and water only may be due to legal constraints and not just disorganization.

In our state, OTC meds can be used for a time limited period with just a parent's note, but our district policy goes further and requires both a written physician order and written parental consent for any OTC medication, even those that are basic staples for first aid.

At first, it seemed overbearing. After a year or so of parent phone calls wanting me to diagnose and treat all kinds of issues (with my imaginary stock medicine), I am fully in support of the policy.

And as a previous poster mentioned, beware of allergies.

rdsxfnrn · Oct 16, 2012

In the health room here, no stock OTC meds. All meds must have doc orders and parental permission.(parent must provide) It makes things a lot easier, due to the fact that diagnosing ANYTHING is out of my scope of practice. I did not set this up, it was this way when I got here. On year 4 now, and I totally agree.

caregiver1977 · Oct 16, 2012

We don't give tylenol, or any medication without parent consent/doctor's orders, but we still do treat bee stings (we have had A LOT of those this year) and other things like that. We can treat students with what comes in a general first aid kit. Do I agree with that, I don't know. I am glad that we don't give children cough syrup, tylenol, or anything like that.

bleemadden · Oct 22, 2012

Every year we have parent's fill out an Emergency Health Form. It has their contact info, emergency contact info, health problems, meds taken at home, and any allergies. At the bottom of the form is a place for written parent consent with a list of meds that are available in the office..tylenol, cough drops, benadryl, bacitracin, vasaline, etc. If a parent signs on it, meds are given. If they don't, it's just soap and water. I only have 2 students of almost 500 that don't have consent to give meds.