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melco
26-06-2012, 12:07 PM
Hi,

I am just going through my policies and wanted to check whether my medicine policy is correct and sounds ok.

Before I am able to give medicine to a child in my care I will need a written consent from the parent that they have signed. Once this is done I can give a child prescribed medication from the Doctor or non prescribed medicine like Calpol or Nurofen or teething gel. This medication needs to be supplied by the parent.

If I have written consent from the parent I will still contact them before I give the child the non-prescribed medicine to protect the child, the parent and myself. This is because a child may have been given some medication before they arrive and the parent may have forgotten to inform me. If medication has been given to the child before they come into my home I will need to know what medicine they have had and what time the medicine was given. If the child becomes unwell or has an accident in my care and needs pain relief again I will contact the parent first before any medication is given and then that parent will need to sign when they collect the child.

If your child has a self-held medication like an inhaler please can you arrange for another one to be kept at my house, as I understand that in the morning rush something like this can be forgotten. Having an inhalant in my home can prevent there from being a major incident or a trip to the hospital.

If your child has any allergies and carries or needs an epi-pen, please discuss the matter with me. I have had epi-pen training but I may need additional training to administer these forms of medication.

If your child needs to take medication prescribed by a doctor, please discuss this with me. The details of the medication will need to be added to the permission form, again I will need to be informed if they have already had medication before they arrive so I know when and how much they need to have while in my care. However depending on the illness the child may not be able to come into my home if they have an infection that can spread to others.

The medication that has been prescribed from a doctor must be given to me in its original bottle or container. It must have the manufactures guidelines on it and if prescribed it should have the details of the doctor or pharmacy. It must also be clearly labelled with your child’s name. I will ensure that all medication given to me will be stored correctly and I will make sure that it is still within its expiry date.I will record all medication administered in my book and request a parental signature at the end of each day.

I needed to print it off for a new parent, but as I have changed some details do I need to print copies off for another parent?

Also I have a boy that I look after that needs an inhaler when he has a bad cough. He has not needed it while with me and his mum said he will have it with him when he does. If I do give it to him will this have to be signed by his mum as medicine for him while in my care?

rickysmiths
26-06-2012, 04:50 PM
To be honest I find all that very wordy.

I don't have anything like that.

I use the NCMA Accident/Incident and Medication Folder which I find excellent and covers everything you have tried to describe.

http://www.shop.*************/shop/Accident__Incident_and_Medication_Folder.html

I do not have non prescribed medication in the house, so no Calpol for example and I explain that to parents. I can reduce a temperature without if necessary and if it was that bad I would call a Paramedic and the parents. I put this in my Policy.

I do not have blanket permission to administer medication unless it is long term regular medication like perhaps insulin for a diabetic there is no need.

If a child arrives in the morning with Calpol because they are teething then the parent will sign a Short Term medicines form which records what the medicine is, what the dose is and the last time a dose was given. I then record the time I give it and initial through the day and sign and the parent is given the self duplicating copy at pick up time. The same for antibiotics. These are done each day for as long as the medication is needed.

In 18 years of cm I have rarely had the need to use Calpol for a child on a regular basis. I find doing it this way makes the parents think before using as well.

Yes you need to state about spare inhalers and epipens also that they must be in date and those in you care will be monitored and you will remind the parent in plenty of time when the item is due to go out of date, the training is important and should be done for each child. I put this in my policy.

So only the two things and I let the Medication folder do the rest as and when needed.