Students                                                                                    AR    5141.21(a)

AR 5141.21 Medication Administration

I.        PURPOSE

To provide a consistent policy for the administration, safe handling and documentation of prescription and non-prescription medications throughout the district. The primary responsibility of medication administration lies with the assigned nurse. In the absence of the assigned nurse Unlicensed Assistive Personnel (UAP) may administer medications as delegated. See procedures in the following sections: Medication Delegation to

Unlicensed School Staff and Parental Request for Non-Delegable Medications and Medication Administration Training for Unlicensed School Staff.

II.       AR POLICY

A. Standard: Medication necessary to maintain or improve health for student participation in school will be administered upon the request of a licensed healthcare provider and the parent/guardian for prescription medication, or a parent/guardian individually for over-the-counter (OTC) medication. Whenever possible, medications should be administered outside of school hours. Administration of medication includes assisting the pupil in ingestion, application, injection, or inhalation of medication according to: the orders from a legal prescriber; a Physician's Desk Reference (PDR); the package insert; or monitoring the self-administration of medication. The nurse or trained UAP, legal prescriber, parent/guardian and student will work together to assure the student receives the medicine at the least disruptive time. A 504 Plan may be written to formalize accommodations needed to ensure that a student has access to his/her medications during the school day.

B. Prescriptive Authority: The State of Alaska grants prescriptive authority to physicians (MD or DO), podiatrists (DPM), dentists (DDS or DMD), advanced nurse practitioners (ANP, PNP, FNP), and physician assistants (PA). Prescription medicine may be administered at school when it is prescribed by a licensed healthcare provider with prescriptive authority in the State of Alaska and it is provided to the school nurse or trained UAP in a container labeled by the pharmacy or the legal prescriber.

C. Delegation: Medication administration by trained UAPs are under the supervision of the assigned nurse at school. The nurse is accountable for the process of delegating and training medication administration to school staff.

D. Parent/Guardian Responsibility: Parent/guardian is responsible for providing the prescription medication(s) to the nurse in an original, pharmacy-labeled container and the appropriate, signed and completed medication administration form (see Forms). Adult students (18 and older) may sign for their own medications.

E. Nurse Responsibility: The nurse or nurse designee is responsible for reviewing all medication requests including those for a field trip or overnight

student school travel.

III.      PROCEDURE

A. Five Rights: All persons administering medications will follow the “Five Rights” every time medications are given at school.

1. Right Student: Ask the child to state their name. Prevent mix-ups! Check the student picture on their EHR.

2. Right Medication: Cross check the name of the medication on the bottle with the order before giving.

3. Right Dose: Check the dosage on the order with the dosage on the label of the container.

4. Right Route: Make sure you understand any special instructions such as crushing, etc.

5. Right Time: In order to be considered “on-time” medications have a window of being given one hour before or after the scheduled time.

6. A “6th Right” of medication administration is often added – Right Documentation. Each time a medication is administered it must be documented in the student medication administration record as indicated in this section; DO NOT document scheduled medication as an office visit. When delegated to UAP, this must be clearly documented in the delegation plan of care by the supervising licensed nurse.

B. Other Notable Information

Self-Carry Medications: Some students are allowed to Self-Carry an emergency medication (inhaler, insulin, epinephrine auto injector) but this must be clearly authorized by the legal prescriber, parent/guardian and nurse on the student’s Care Plan. This is the only time a student can carry medication.

(Amended 2/10/2022) Herbal or Non-Herbal Supplement: A nurse may administer herbal or non-herbal nutritional supplements to a student if all of the following conditions are met:

-the patient’s health care provider has ordered that an herbal or non-herbal nutritional supplement be administered to the patient;

-the patient or the patient’s representative has requested that the nurse administer an herbal or non-herbal nutritional supplement to the patient;

-the nurse administering the herbal or non-herbal nutritional supplement knows the actions, possible side effects, and possible interactions of the supplement with food, medications, or other substances;

-the use of the herbal or non-herbal nutritional supplement and indications are included as part of the nursing care plan for the patient;