Walker signs school med bills

II. Who do I have to train in my school to administer medications to students?

• Old law: Excluding school nurses, any employee, volunteer or bus driver administering a prescription or non-prescription drug to a student had to be certified by a State-approved training program for that specific medicinal application.
• New law: Excluding school nurses, any employee, volunteer or bus driver administering a prescription or non-prescription drug in the following manner must be properly trained:
  • injected,
  • inhaled,
  • rectally administered, or
  • administered through a feeding tube

III. Do I have to use the State-approved training programs in my school?

• Old law: Yes - though a template program did exist. The more advanced training programs also required a health care professional to witness the skills to complete the certification process.
• New law: No. Programs used exclusively to train employees, volunteers or bus drivers serving private school students do NOT have to use state-approved programs. Schools can use programs specific to their students' needs and document the training according to your own policies. You DO NOT forfeit immunity from civil lawsuits for using customized training programs in your school.

IV. Can a student use an epinephrine auto-injector?

• Old law: No
• New law: Yes, to alleviate the symptoms of an emergency situation. The school must have written approval on file from both a medical professional and a legal guardian. School officials are still required to call "911" after an incident due to the high rate of secondary reactions.

V. Who can supply non-prescription drugs for students?

• Old law: All non-prescription drugs - including aspirin and cough drops - had to be individually supplied by a legal guardian in the original packaging for each student.
• New law: Non-prescription drugs lawfully sold over-the-counter can be provided from the school's supply with the written consent of the student's legal guardian. In the event a legal guardian has supplied the school with a non-prescription product for their child, it must be in the original manufacturer's package and clearly list the ingredients and the proper dosage instructions.

VI. Who can supply prescription drugs for students?

• Old law: Prescription drugs had to be supplied by the student's legal guardian in the original packaging, listing the name of the student, physician, active ingredients, proper dosage, and the effective dates of the prescription.
• New law: The same requirements apply except the prescription drug can be brought to school by the student.

VII. Did the new law change the rules for storing drugs or recording each individual application?

• No. Schools must still develop policies to establish proper procedures for drug storage, obtaining and filing the proper permission forms, and recording each dosage provided to a student, including errors. Policies must be adopted with the assistance of a health care professional and periodically reviewed and updated.

              Templates: 

Parent Authorization Form

Medical Provider Form

Inhaler Authorization Form

Epi Pen Authorization Form

Disposal of Medications Policy - Sample

Medical Log - Sample