Medication administration practices of school nurses.
This study assessed the medication administration practices of school nurses. From a random sample of 1,000 members of the National Association of School Nurses, 649 (64.9%) completed the survey developed for the study. These school nurses report that during a typical day, 5.6% of children receive medication in school, with 3.3% receiving medications for ADHD. Almost all the school nurses follow written guidelines for administering medication. Potential problems were identified in documenting side effects of medications, storage of medications, student self-administration practices, and appropriate authorization of nonprescription drug use. Most nurses (75.6%) delegate medication administration to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP), with secretaries (66.2%) the most common UAP. Discomfort with delegation and confusion over state nurse practice laws were noted. Errors in administering medications were reported by 48.5% of the school nurses, with missed dose (79.7%) the most common error. Factors identified as contributing to errors included use of UAP and responsibility for large numbers of students.
McCarthy
A M
AM
College of Nursing NB430, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52245, USA. ann-mccarthy@uiowa.edu
Kelly
M W
MW
Reed
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004358:Drug Therapy; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008509:Medication Systems; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012573:School Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States