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Discussion

Question about med administration

Ok so I started a new thread for this since I have other questions on the subject.

background:

I am new to any type of home health/PD, so this type of situation is new to me.

I have a patient (school aged child with congenital disorder that affects motor skills and ability to speak). Mom is great to work for and very down to earth, grandma is very type A, germaphobe and nit-picky (but still nice to me and good to patient).

The family are naturalists and therefore give patient lots of supplements (ex: garlic, echinacea). They pre pour these things out (they dump them out of the capsules they came in an put them in a jar for me to add water to them) for me and want me to give them to pt via tube.

We established in another post that this is not advisable since I am not dispensing the medication. Easy enough fix-I can ask the family to let me dispense them, as I'm sure they would accommodate me.

The problem is that i go to school with pt during the day and pt is supposed to get them while there. It would be nuts if the family sent me with all the bottles (its probably about 6 or 7 different bottles and they already have me dragging around pts backpack, emergency bag, giant lunch box, huge shopping bag of sanitized toys and a huge cork board...don't ask)-I don't even know the school's policy on bringing medications). My shift starts as they're loading pt into the car for school so I can't do it before. Plus they're really particular about patient so I'm not sure if they'd be comfortable changing her med times.

what would be the best option in this case

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    • Featured Replies

    I have seen some nurses pre pour meds for school. However, that's asking for trouble if something gets mixed up. Its best to bring the meds. Most schools require meds to be locked up so other kids can't access the meds.

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    • Expert

    My school required the student to have their meds kept at school with appropriate documentation.

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    • Expert

    Also: we had the pharmacy provide a labeled smallest size med bottle to hold a small amount. The school kept X amount, properly labeled, usually three or four weeks worth at a time and another small bottle could be used for back and forth outings. This "travel" bottle can easily be placed in the travel bag. Six of these small containers are easier to deal with than whatever the month's supply is dispensed in. Important thing is that the container that leaves the house is always properly labeled.

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    • Author

    Hmm, thanks for the advice! Luckily summer is almost here, so I can just pour the meds normally for a few months and then figure out what I'll do when school stars back up again.

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    At my agency nurses can't give any medication, including supplements, without a doctor's order. If it's not on the 485, the family has to give it.

    For school, I kept his meds in his bag.

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    • Author

    Oh, all the meds have orders, it was just an issue of them being drawn up by the family before school.

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