Unclear laws on medical care in school

[tleigh7097]

a recent newspaper article brought to light the unclear laws related to caring for children in school who require invasive procedure or skills that require nursing judgement. teachers assistances have voiced their conceerns about weather or not these things should be done by non-medical personell, even though they are not "required" to do so, but may be asked. it is my understanding that the new nurse practice act states that registered nurses can not delegate any task to non-nurses that require nursing judgement. but...the illinois state board of education allows district employees to perform health related services to students with medical needs. how can this be allowed when an rn can not delegate such tasks to a cna or even an lpn in other circumstances or health care settings? what happens to the nurse if parents sue because a problem did arise while a non-medical staff member was performing these skills?

also, can you shed any light on the pending bill, sb 2048 that is before lawmakers at this time? my understanding is that will require medication management plans for all students on meds, and if there is no school nurse employeed it would be the principals responsibility to appoint, supervise and train a "designated health care aid" to perform all tasks necessary???

please help me sort out the confusion as i am one of these nurses delegating tasks to teachers and ta's.

[bergren]

This is being discussed right now on the Illinois Association of School Nurse Listserv, a benefit of IASN membership: http://www.iasn.org

You also have a state school nurse consultant at IL HHS, Victoria Jackson - she also has a listserv

It is difficult situation and there are no good answers. Call your state representative about SB 2048 and voice your concerns.