Administering Medication

In the child care setting (business name) is justified to give medications if:

  • Dosage cannot be adjusted, so that it can be taken before and after child care.
  • A child has chronic health conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes) which may require urgent administration of medicine.
  • Refusal to administer the medication would pose a significant hardship, such as requiring the child’s absence from child care to recover from an illness, when the child is well enough to attend child care (e.g. ear infection after the first day or so).

The administration of medications will be limited to:

  1. Prescribed medications ordered by a healthcare provider for a specific child and a specific illness. Medication that is prescribed for one child in the family will not be administered to another child in the family.
  2. Nonprescription medications recommended by a healthcare provider for a specific child, with written permission of a legal guardian.
  3. Homeopathic and herbal medications are only given with an order from a licensed health care professional and must be properly labeled.
  4. Medications which (business name) have been trained to administer including oral, topical, nasal, ear and eye.
  5. Only after a first dose has been given at home.

Exception to medication policy: Nonprescription diaper ointment, sunscreen and insect repellent always require guardian consent, but do not require instructions from each child’s prescribing healthcare professional.

Guardians need to provide explicit instructions on the amount of medicine to be administered, the times it is to be given, and most important, what signs to watch for in the event the child suffers an allergic reaction, whether or not the medicine needs to be kept refrigerated, and so on.

Medication Tip: Two Bottles – Ask the pharmacist to divide prescription medication into two bottles, each with its own label, so that one can be kept at home and one can be kept at (business).

Emergency medications will be with provider when outside.

Medication will only be provided with written permission from the guardian. Only proper measuring utensils will be used to ensure the child receives the correct dose of his/her medication.  The measuring utensil will be cleaned immediately after use and placed with the child’s medication.

No medications will be added to or administered in food, unless specifically made for food. If medication is added to food the child needs to take in all the food to get the correct dosage of medication.

All medications will be administered following the “5 RIGHTS”:

  • Right Child
    • match child’s name to the container
    • not sure check another identifier
  • Right Medication
    • read the label
    • medication in original container
    • check expiration date
  • Right Time
    • check time on permission form
    • give within 30 minutes of of prescribed time
    • document date and time administered
    • For emergency, NOW is the right time!
  • Right Administration Procedure
    • check instruction on label and administration form
    • give medication using appropriate route

If medication or order to administer it is out-of-date, or medication is left over, the medication will be returned to guardian for disposal.

In the case of a medication error/incident poison control or 911 will be called first, if necessary, and notification of guardian will follow.

What is a medication error?

  • Giving medication to the wrong child
  • Giving wrong medication
  • Giving the wrong dose (under dose, overdose, or missed dose)
  • Giving medication at the wrong time
  • Giving medication by the wrong route or using a wrong procedure

Medication incidents, but not errors:

  • Child refusal
  • Spit out doses
  • Vomited doses
  • Spilled medication