What’s happening?
Currently, PISD’s school nurses are required to administer OTC medications from a physician’s order, but the district allows a 10-day grace period for the parent to bring the district the physician’s order, according to PISD agenda documents.
The BON’s recommend policy released Aug. 1 would no longer allow PISD parents to have the 10-day grace period, meaning a physician’s order will be needed before any OTC medication is administered, every time it is administered, Monica Reynolds, PISD’s coordinator of health services, said at the Aug. 20 meeting.
What they're saying
“I understand we don’t want to put our nurses in jeopardy of doing [OTC] medication, but I agree there is some parental right that needs to be allowed to allow this to happen, and the understanding of our nurses to make the best decision for our kids,” PISD Superintendent Larry Berger said at the meeting.
Board trustee and physician Kris Schoeffler said this policy will make it difficult for both parents and doctors to constantly obtain orders, especially in cases such as if a child has a headache at school and can’t take an OTC medication like Ibuprofen without a physician’s order.
“If you have the privilege to go see a doctor at the beginning of the year, you’re just going to say, ‘For every one of my kids please give me a prescription for Ibuprofen, cold medicine, tummy ache medicine; I just need all these so they’re on file,’” Schoeffler said at the meeting. “Doctors are going to have all this paperwork to do. It’s going to create a mess. It just seems like this really needs to be examined because it should be a parent’s right ... to make the decision to give an [OTC] medication. Bringing a doctor into it makes them not over the counter anymore.”
Stay tuned
While PISD’s trustees voted to table the policy, the BON is reviewing and updating its guidance on the new policy, according to an Aug. 19 news release from the board.
The BON will consult with the Texas School Nurses Organization “to develop guidance that aligns with legal standards and practical considerations,” according to the news release.
“Until we get [new guidance] we would like to refrain from making a policy decision at this time,” Berger said at the meeting. “The Texas Board of Nurses gave one decision ... [then] gave an alternative decision ... so we would like to wait until they give us more clarity before we ask the board to make a policy change.”
If the BON goes forward with any policy recommendation, Berger said the district will have to change its practice, and the board will have to vote on a new policy.
