You will need a very good job description which includes administration
and distribution of medications if you decide to do that. You should
also check with your liability insurance carrier to determine if you are
covered for doing these tasks. The Scope and Standards of Faith
Community nursing no longer prohibit hands on care but most parish
nurses still don't do these tasks due to liability concerns. You will
also need to check your state nurse practice act to determine how much
nurses are allowed to do without physician supervision. This varies
widely from state to state. There certainly no probation about putting
antibiotic cream and other over the counter medication in a first aide
kit. Problems happen when the kits are not checked regularly and thing
become outdated.



Some parish nurses in churches which have schools have helped the
principal set up appropriate procedures for assuring medication
administration but are not actually responsible for administering meds.
They also respond to first aide cases and help make decisions about when
the child should be sent for further medical evaluation.







Alvyne Rethemyer RN MSN

Director

International Parish Nurse Resource Center



Deaconess Parish Nurse Ministries is the heart of the parish nurse
movement, serving locally, inspiring globally



-----Original Message-----
From: ParishNurse@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ParishNurse@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Jill Brown
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 7:33 AM
To: ParishNurse@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ParishNurse] Practical Questions



Moving away from the more theological content recently (which has been
thought provoking), I have a few more practical questions.

How do you handle administration of medications to children in your
congregation ~ as an example, when they are here for several hours for
VBS and a medication needs to be administered?

Do you stock medications such as antibiotic cream, benadryl, tylenol or
advil in First Aid kits that the entire congregation has access to?

If you do, who administers these medications to children and do you have
consent to do so?

Thanks for any insights the group might be able to offer!

Peace of Christ above you, around you and within you,

Jill

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