Filling medicine boxes at private boarding school

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Does anyone have experience working as an RN at a private boarding school. Is it in the RN scope of practice to dispense medication from the student's pill bottles into a weekly mediset for other non-liscensed staff to distribute? Any input would be appreciated.

The school I have worked at requires the students to be enrolled in School Meds for this very reason. They package all of the meds into daily doses. We then are able to give these to the dorm staff as they are labeled with name, time of admin, med name etc. Dorm staff has a protocol to admin meds by that includes documentation and yearly training. We also use the packets for daily AM meds in the health center. There are always people who don't sign up for the service which is hard. But it is so much safer with the amount of med you are handling not to be repacking. It is my understanding that it out of our scope of practice.

Specializes in Pedi.

I worked per diem at one. Nurses were only available from 7:30-3:30 so it was up to the dorm parents to administer evening meds. We put them in envelopes labeled with each student's name and left them for the administrator on duty that evening, who came by to pick them up.

Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

I would double check with the BON. That's perilously close to dispensing. This was an issue at summer camps in years past, and it was solved by having pharmacists doing the bubble packing. As long as you're training the unlicensed provider and you feel that they know about the five rights/three checks, that part is fine.

Specializes in Pediatrics Retired.

As these guys mentioned above, I don't believe you would be violating a nurse practice act as long as the container was properly labeled with your name attached, yadda yadda. I often put a noon med into a labeled envelope for teachers to administer during field trips...similar circumstance.

Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

This sounds a lot like home health nurses who set up weekly meds for clients to self administer or family to give at home. I don't think it amounts to dispensing, but I guess your BON should answer that.

Specializes in kids.

I think there is a difference in setting up for the client to take directly, vs handing them off to someone else who is then accepting prepoured meds...

Do not think it is a good practice to follow.

Thank you everyone for contributing! I looked on my BON (Az.) Website and found the answer under the Advisory Board Scope of Practice FAQs. It is the very 1st question/answer on there!..It states"... it is the RN scope to prepare a medist to facilitate the ultimate user's self administration...the nurse is not considered dispensing when a med is taken from the ultimate user's labeled package..." For me, personally...the gray area lays within the "middle man"...the dorm parents, med tech, non-licensed staff, ect...best to use good nursing judgement to assess the distributer of meds..do they know signs and symptoms of reactions, side effects, cheekings meds, ect...?

Specializes in kids.
Thank you everyone for contributing! I looked on my BON (Az.) Website and found the answer under the Advisory Board Scope of Practice FAQs. It is the very 1st question/answer on there!..It states"... it is the RN scope to prepare a medist to facilitate the ultimate user's self administration...the nurse is not considered dispensing when a med is taken from the ultimate user's labeled package..." For me, personally...the gray area lays within the "middle man"...the dorm parents, med tech, non-licensed staff, ect...best to use good nursing judgement to assess the distributer of meds..do they know signs and symptoms of reactions, side effects, cheekings meds, ect...?

I would call the BON if you are not sure about the "middle man", and then ask them to email or mail you something in writing.

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