Policy 5534 – Medication

Non-prescription and prescription medications should be administered to school children at home, rather than at school, whenever possible. School personnel who are authorized to do so may administer medications to students under the procedures and conditions established to implement this policy that are developed with the assistance of a school nurse and adopted by the School Board.

Administer means the direct application of a nonprescription medication product or prescription medication, whether by injection, ingestion or other means, to the human body. Medications means any substance recognized as a medication in the official U.S. pharmacopeia and national formulary or official homeopathic pharmacopeia of the United States or any supplement to either of them. Medication product means a specific medication or medications in a specific dosage form and strength from a known source of manufacture. Nonprescription medication product means any nonnarcotic medication product which may be sold without a prescription order and which is prepackaged for use by consumers and labeled in accordance with the requirements of state and federal law. CBD products are neither prescription medications nor nonprescription medication products (i.e. over-the counter medications), as those terms are defined under state law. As a result, school employees or school volunteers who might administer a CBD product to a student in response to a parent or guardians request could not claim the legal protections that are offered under the states medication administration law. Practitioner means any physician, dentist, optometrist, physician assistant, advanced practice nurse practitioner, or podiatrist licensed by the state.

Authorized school employees may administer a prescription medication to a student in compliance with the written directions of a practitioner if the student’s parent/guardian consents in writing. Authorized school personnel may administer nonprescription medication products with the written consent of the students parent/guardian. The prescription and nonprescription medication product is supplied and brought to the school office by the pupils parent or guardian in the original manufacturers package or in the original pharmacy labeled container and the package lists the ingredients and recommended therapeutic dose in a legible format.

A copy of all written directions by a practitioner and written consent by a parent/guardian shall be on file in the school office. These directions shall be renewed annually or more frequently if there is a change in medication or dosage. Primary responsibility for the medical management and welfare of the children rests with the parent. The 51勛圖s intention will be to administer as few doses as possible during the school day without impacting the health care of any student.

No school employee, except a healthcare professional (e.g. physician, registered nurse, or licensed practical nurse), shall be required to administer medication to a student by injection. Each principal shall arrange to have volunteer employees for administration of medication by injection for emergency situations or situations in which the well-being of a student is involved. Such employee volunteers may administer medication by injection in accordance with the written directions of a physician, written consent of a students parent/guardian, and the written authorization of the principal. Training and periodic monitoring of the employee volunteer shall be completed by a health care professional prior to the administration of any medication to a student by injection.

LEGAL REF.:

  • Wisconsin Statutes Sections
    • 118.125 Confidentiality/maintenance of student records
    • 118.29 Medication administration by school personnel; policy/procedure requirements
    • 118.291 Student possession and use of inhalers
    • 118.29(2)2m Wisconsin Administrative Code: Administer epinephrine
    • 118.2925 Life-threatening allergies in schools; allergy management plan and use of epinephrine
    • 118.29(3) Emergency Care: Civil Liability Exemption
    • 121.02(1)(g) Emergency nursing services standard
    • 146.81 – 146.83 Confidentiality of patient health care records
    • 441.18 Authority of certified advanced practice nurses to prescribe and deliver opioid antagonists to designated individuals and to issue a standing order to persons authorizing the dispensing of an opioid antagonist.
    • 448.037 Authority of physician or physician assistant to prescribe and deliver opioid antagonists to designated individuals and to issue a standing order to persons authorizing the dispensing of an opioid antagonist.
  • Wisconsin Administrative Codes
    • PI 8.01(2)(g) Emergency nursing services requirements; medication administration procedures required
    • N 6.03(3) Supervision and delegation of nursing acts

CROSS REF.:

  • 5434 Student Alcohol and Other Drug Use
  • 5531 Emergency Care Services

AFFIRMED: August 13, 1991

REVISED:

  • January 23, 1996
  • February 10, 1998
  • September 26, 2000
  • February 22, 2011
  • August 27, 2013
  • November 14, 2023

Rule 5534 – Medication

  1. Required Written Statements
    1. Copies of all required written directions of a practitioner and written consent of a parent/guardian pertaining to administration of medication to a student shall be filed in the school or health office.
    2. The school has received written instructions from the student’s health care practitioner regarding the administration of the prescribed medication. These instructions shall include the medication name, dose, route, frequency, time/conditions, duration and the healthcare practitioner’s name and contact information. By signing the medication authorization form, the parent/guardian permits designated school staff to contact the health care practitioner at any time with questions or concerns related to their childs medical condition.
  2. Medication Administration
    1. Designated school employees i.e. health/information assistants, principals, secretaries, teachers, counselors, will dispense and administer medication at the elementary and middle school level.
    2. Middle and high school students will be allowed to carry and administer their own emergency medication (i.e. EPI, Rescue Inhaler, Glucagon, Insulin) with written parent/guardian and practitioner permission. Any school student needing prescription medication during school hours must have the prescription and medication on file in the school or health office. If a student is unable to administer his/her own medication, a designated school employee will assume this responsibility.
    3. Parents/guardians of students taking medications labeled more than once daily shall administer these at home, unless otherwise ordered by a physician and approved by the building administrator.
    4. Daily morning medications should only be administered on a case-by-case basis upon administrative approval.
    5. Designated school employees will take on the responsibility of a midday/lunch medication dose during school hours.
    6. A Department of Public Instruction (DPI) approved medication on-line training course will be provided for school personnel.
  3. Medication Storage and Recordkeeping
    1. All medication must be supplied in the original container. Prescription medication must be in the original pharmacy labeled container. The label on the bottle must contain the name and telephone number of the pharmacy, the pupils identification, name of the practitioner, medication name, number dispensed, strength, dose, route, times or circumstances for medication to be given, special directions for storage or dispensing. Non-prescription medication must be in the original container with the directions on the container including the pupil’s name. The medication shall be kept in a locked cubicle or drawer. Taking the medication shall be supervised by the designated school personnel at the time conforming with the indicated schedule.
    2. Anyone dispensing or administering medication under Board policy and these procedures shall record such action in Infinite Campus. This documentation should contain the recorded time the medication was administered and who was responsible for the administration of the medication.
    3. For field trips and other co-curricular or extracurricular activities held off school premises, student medication will be stored in a secure location determined appropriate by the activity supervisor, keeping in mind the manufacturers or health practitioners storage instructions. Designated school employees shall administer medications and document on the provided medication administration record with the date, time, and staff initials.
    4. Any unused medication at the end of the period for which it was prescribed shall be picked up by the parent/guardian after notification to the parent/guardian, or the medication shall be destroyed.
    5. Controlled substances will be locked and secured. The school nurse will perform a weekly count witnessed by a secondary employee and recorded.
  4. Liability Exemption
    School employees, except health care professionals, shall be immune from civil liability for any acts or omissions in administering medication to students in accordance with Board policy, these procedures and state law requirements unless the act or omission constitutes a high degree of negligence.

    School employees and volunteers, other than health care professionals, who in good faith render emergency care to a student, are immune from civil liability for any of their acts or omissions in rendering such emergency care.