Med training for non-medical staff??

OldDude · Oct 16, 2018

What kind of meds are you talking about?

LikeTheDeadSea, MSN, RN · Oct 16, 2018

If medication is being dispensed by non-licensed personal, I would imagine your state has guidelines what can be used.

naveiak · Oct 17, 2018

Hum, good question as I am a brand new school nurse. I was asked today to train some substitute health aids so they can give meds. I wanted to give them some videos to watch. We have a couple diabetics, lots of asthma (so inhaler use), etc. I'm overwhelmed with all the tasks I have been given and thought if I could give them some videos to watch it would help. As I type this I am thinking to myself -I need to be the one to train them in person probably!

Eleven011 · Oct 17, 2018

Maybe check with your Board of Nursing? Ours has a section for training med-aides. They have to take an online course approved by them, then do clinical hours with me, then pass a test. They have to renew their certification every 2 years.

OldDude · Oct 17, 2018

I would avoid "providing" the training material in lieu of obtaining it from another source and administrating it; especially with diabetes care. This releases you from a lot of liability if something goes bad. In other words, use a "canned" program for training and you oversee the actual administration.

Did I mention "especially" with diabetes care?

ohiobobcat · Oct 17, 2018

Our state provides us with training materials for unlicensed personnel (ULP) medication administration training. It usually takes about 4 hour to complete the course and watch the videos and take the test. I would definitely check with your school nurse contact person at the state level to see what they have for training materials.

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2018

Hum, good question as I am a brand new school nurse. I was asked today to train some substitute health aids so they can give meds. I wanted to give them some videos to watch. We have a couple diabetics, lots of asthma (so inhaler use), etc. I'm overwhelmed with all the tasks I have been given and thought if I could give them some videos to watch it would help. As I type this I am thinking to myself -I need to be the one to train them in person probably!

You should have a policy that addresses this specific issue, and it likely comes with a check off sheet.

I hear you when you say you're overwhelmed with the day-to-day. Sometimes it's like that. Hang in there. There's no substitute for read the policy, see one, do several (while you're monitoring). Good luck!

naveiak · Oct 17, 2018

Thank you all very much for your guidance!! Is it odd that I can't find a policy from my district that addresses this?? I'll keep digging thought. Last night I did find some more info specifically about diabetes training that helped and is more of the 'canned' training that I can oversee. There is a business and professions code and Calif. Code of regulations that reads in part:

"...an unlicensed voluntary school employee should have been trained to at least the standards specified by the American Diabetes Association's training slides entitled "Diabetes Care Tasks At School: What Key Personnel Need to know: Insulin Administration" (Attachment A). Such a voluntary school employee should be regularly, and at least quarterly, supervised by a school nurse, physician, or other appropriate individual under contract with the LEA, providing the training, and with emergency communication access to the same school nurse or physician. Documentation of training, ongoing supervision, and annual written verification of competency are strongly recommended, and such documentation should be annually submitted to the LEA employing the unlicensed person by the school nurse or physician."

The trainings are located here... in case anyone else needs the info.

jess11RN · Oct 17, 2018

Before you look into training, I would suggest that you take a look at your state's nurse practice act and see what you can legally delegate to non-licensed personnel.

For example, in my state, I cannot delegate the administration of medication (only an nurse or administrator can legally administer) also, to care for diabetics, the non-licensed personnel must be trained by a diabetic educator that has a specific certification to train. Always know your professional boundaries and make sure to CYA.

I would insist that I have a face to face training session, not just give them videos to watch. As much as I hate getting up in front of a group, I love the face to face training because it solicits so many questions and genuine educational conversation. I have power point presentations with embedded videos that I'm happy to share for anaphylaxis/epi pen, asthma, diabetes, and seizures.

Certain specific resources that have helped me: The American Diabetic Association for diabetes, and FARE (Food Allergy Research and Education) for food allergies and anaphylaxis management. The Epilepsy Foundation for seizures (I went to youtube to find good examples of absence and tonic-clonic seizures). ALSO, if you have any students with Diastat, that really should only be a nurse or administrator to give since it is given rectally-so make sure your administrators are trained on that (Make sure they're trained on it all!!)

NutmeggeRN, BSN · Oct 18, 2018

Check with your state school nurses association, BON or the school nurse consultant.

naveiak · Oct 18, 2018

Thank you so much for taking the time to post your informative response!! The resources you provided are very helpful and will remain bookmarked on my laptop! I would love to take a look at your presentations and do agree that an in-person training is best when training on med admin. I will be working to schedule times to meet with the health aides to do this (in all my 'spare' time... lol). I'm so confused on the delegation issue. I see conflicting information between nurse practice act and state ed codes that say I can delegate to non-licensed staff as long as they have training.