Record Retention?

[chasinRT]

I am in year two and finally having time to check out all the nooks and crannies of my offices. I am finding tons of old records including med permission slips, med admin records, clinic logs etc from as far back as 2000. I know the laws vary by state (I am in Indiana) and can't really find anything definitive for most of these things. I asked the admin office and they gave me a copy of the guidelines I found online in the state code, but it doesn't address the logs specifically. As I read the code, I think I am good to shred med-related things after 3 years. How long do you keep those types of records?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

I never worked in a school setting, only a pulmonary clinic. I used to live in Indiana and moved last month, I was instructed to keep records for 7 yrs. for legal reasons. Due to electronic records and the ability to store them on computer hard drives, I still had the records for tests I performed 14 yrs ago. If everything was on paper, then they would have been tossed after 7 yrs.

[SnowyJ, RN]

I was told that because we are not legally a medical facility, the records only need to be kept as long as the child is in our school. Just like academic records.

I "thin" the 5th grade paper charts before they are sent out to Middle School. Leave relevant things like school physical/Imm records. get rid of notes from home, etc.

[schooldistrictnurse]

Different states have different regulations. In Wisconsin I have a schedule from the department of public instruction and health records are kept 5 - 7 years.

[AdobeRN]

How long does the district keep their paper records? Our health services follow that policy - I'm in Texas and all records are kept until the student turns 18 and has graduated. We keep 2 years of paper records on site at our actual school then they are sent to our record retention department.