A University of Iowa survey of hundreds of school nurses nationwide finds nearly half of them admit making mistakes when giving medicine to children. Dr. Ann Marie McCarthy, a U-of-I Nursing Professor, says the term “mistake” was used to refer to things like skipping a child’s dose.A missed dose was most common but other mistakes include double doses, giving students the wrong medication or giving them “meds” without authorization. Dr. McCarthy says only about a quarter of school nurses actually dispense the medication themselves.The other three-quarters have to rely on teachers, other students, health aides or secretaries to administer meds. The survey found errors were more than three times more likely to occur with the use of assistants. The survey covered nearly every state in the U-S and about one thousand school nurses chosen at random. The National Association of School Nurses recommends one licensed nurse oversee no more than 750 children. The U-of-I survey found one nurse often is responsible for up to 14-hundred kids. The study is being published in this month’s issue of the Journal of School Health.
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