Pittsburg in the news

[ruby_jane]

I know there has to be more to this story. I really hope that nurse documented everything she saw and did.

Early on in my school nurse career I went to a workshop put on by the local children's hospital. I asked the respiratory therapist if all values were normal (no wheeze, no cough, good PSO2) and the only symptom the student was complaining of was chest tightness, should I withhold the inhaler? Nope, the answer was never withhold the inhaler....ever. Words I still live by: "You don't want to be that nurse, the one who took the inhaler away."

Boy in hospital after mother says he was denied inhaler at school

[OyWithThePoodles, RN]

The law trumps policy.

With the mom of the diabetic student, the policy from her district is crap, if there's an order, they should be able to carry it.

BUT... Law states I cannot dispense medicine without a doctors order. This is from NSO.com (because that's all I had time to google)

In an emergency, you may think you do not have enough time to obtain a physician's order before providing life-saving medication to a hospitalized patient. This is not sufficient reason to provide the medication, however, because in doing so you could be stepping outside the scope of your clinical privileges. Depending on your facility's procedures, you may well be taking a risk that jeopardizes your patient, your facility and your ability to practice nursing. If at all possible, get an order first.

If you provide emergency care to a patient outside of your place of employment, however, a different standard applies. According to Joanne Sheehan, JD, RN, BSN, an attorney with Friedman, Newman, Levy, Sheehan and Carolan in Fairfield, CT, every state has Good Samaritan laws that protect healthcare providers from liability if they provide emergency care in good faith. Such care would include giving a man who had a heart attack nitroglycerin if he had it with him, for example. These laws have certain gray” areas and vary slightly from state to state. So it is up to you to familiarize yourself with and understand those laws in your state.

While we have all said that we would've given the kid the inhaler. It was her place of employment, and she would've been breaking the law and jeopardizing her license. (In the event of a kid struggling...license schmicense, but we don't know the full story)

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Like others, I have to admit I would have allowed the student to use the inhaler if he was wheezing, or even if he simply c/o symptoms that warranted its use. Especially if I managed to get mom on the phone verifying that it was his inhaler. Especially if he had documentation on file for previous years allowing use of the same medication. It would be a lengthy visit note but I would rather stand up for why I violated a school policy than why I withheld medication from a child in distress. However, I do think the parent has to shoulder some blame in this situation. Yes, parents are busy and it's hard to get paperwork turned in on top of other busyness, but if the school has "known about his severe asthma since first grade," then she should also be aware of their policy by now. I am sure there is more to this story than the article reveals.

This!

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Totally off topic and don't want to be sassy but those of us who live here like to point out that Pittsburgh is spelled with an "h". We are quirky like that. ������[/QUOT

I've been avoiding the news lately and haven't heard about this event. My first thought was, it probably was the Pittsburg in Kansas....the one without the "h" :)

School nurse wanna be here~

[aprilmoss]

There was no doubt as to the medical order. As I said, we were told no (and other parents were regularly told no). The nurse must hold all drugs and devices. Like I said, it wasn't until we were on the verge of filing a 504 suit that they decided to revise their interpretation of the policy.

[NutmeggeRN, BSN]

Totally off topic and don't want to be sassy but those of us who live here like to point out that Pittsburgh is spelled with an "h". We are quirky like that. ������

Same in NH

[Windchaser22]

With the mom of the diabetic student, the policy from her district is crap, if there's an order, they should be able to carry it.

BUT... Law states I cannot dispense medicine without a doctors order. This is from NSO.com (because that's all I had time to google)

In an emergency, you may think you do not have enough time to obtain a physician's order before providing life-saving medication to a hospitalized patient. This is not sufficient reason to provide the medication, however, because in doing so you could be stepping outside the scope of your clinical privileges. Depending on your facility's procedures, you may well be taking a risk that jeopardizes your patient, your facility and your ability to practice nursing. If at all possible, get an order first.

If you provide emergency care to a patient outside of your place of employment, however, a different standard applies. According to Joanne Sheehan, JD, RN, BSN, an attorney with Friedman, Newman, Levy, Sheehan and Carolan in Fairfield, CT, every state has Good Samaritan laws that protect healthcare providers from liability if they provide emergency care in good faith. Such care would include giving a man who had a heart attack nitroglycerin if he had it with him, for example. These laws have certain gray” areas and vary slightly from state to state. So it is up to you to familiarize yourself with and understand those laws in your state.

While we have all said that we would've given the kid the inhaler. It was her place of employment, and she would've been breaking the law and jeopardizing her license. (In the event of a kid struggling...license schmicense, but we don't know the full story)

My response was meant for the comment regarding policy being more strict than the law i.e. Not allowing a student to carry glucose tabs. It wasn't in reference to the OP. I get you tho.

[Beth1978]

If Mom's reaction was to threaten school staff there is lots more to this story. Most people don't threaten to the point of being banned from the school.