ESP keeping kids safe, healthy, and well-nourished

NEA Today, May 1999

Dispensing Medications

Even before she was asked to dispense student medications, Alaska school secretary Linda Taylor had a "tremendous workload."

"Now," she says, "I have to make sure the school nurse, who is only at our school three afternoons a week, has all the proper paperwork on file to make it legal for me to dispense. We also need to have the doctor fax us documentation.

"It takes a lot of time away from my secretarial duties to see that all legalities are met. And frankly," Taylor adds, "this responsibility scares me."

Taylor's not alone. arcia Farr, senior secretary at North Salem igh School in Oregon, follows careful procedures outlined y her administration.

"Whoever is dispensing medication must focus entirely on the student," Farr says.

"Because interruptions are constant, we have found that it's extremely important to have at least two people in the office during that time."

Help is essential, adds Mary Kay Dinvemo, a secretary at Ferry Elementary in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan. "Sometimes I'll have 50 students lined up at my desk for a wide variety of medications."

Without set procedures in place, Dinverno devised parental permission and dosage documentation forms she instituted with her principal's approval.

"My concern is for the safety of the children," Dinvemo says. "There's so much room for error. We think we're doing a good job because we document in three ways," she adds, "but I see this situation growing."

If you've got similar concerns, Providing Safe Health Care: The Role of Educational Support Personnel can help. This NEA publication provides critical information on legal responsibilities, plus suggestions on how to get proper training and supervision, and how the Association can help.

Copies are available from the NEA Professional Library for $4.95 plus $2.50 s&h. Call 800/229-4200 and ask for stock #1876-1. Or read the entire publication on the Web at www.nea. org/esp/resource/safecare.htm.