Medication dosage form help?

[childcaremom]

I have a dcg who will be returning on Monday and need to have a dosage of prescription meds while here.

Does anyone have a form that I could use as a guideline for the parents to fill out with dosage, time required, etc?

I am going to have it come in the original bottle, parents provide the measuring device, signature, etc.

Anything else I would be missing?

[childcaremom]

Just found a few online examples and will be adding
*special instructions (empty stomach, etc)
*storage requirements
*possible side effects

[Blackcat31]

I have a dcg who will be returning on Monday and need to have a dosage of prescription meds while here.

Does anyone have a form that I could use as a guideline for the parents to fill out with dosage, time required, etc?

I am going to have it come in the original bottle, parents provide the measuring device, signature, etc.

Anything else I would be missing?

Why are you having to dispense the meds?

Is it more than 3x a day?

[childcaremom]

|Not sure?

[Blackcat31]

|Not sure?

If it's 3x a day, I would not do it.

The parent can easily fit 3x into THEIR day.

Dispensing meds is such a risky thing that I honestly don't think providers should ever have to do it unless it's for life saving every day, need to have them to live type meds.

Antibiotics? Parents can take care of it.




that's my two cents

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

I am working on making a medication consent form right now.

I tried to go totally med free, and I mean everything. I am tired of storing teething products, gas drops, and Tylenol for 8 different kids that I NEVER use. I don't think the teething products actually do anything for them more than a frozen washcloth and distraction doesn't, and I feel they are way over used at home. And I feel that if a child NEEDS pain relief medication, they should be at home. I will not give it for a fever, either. If they develop a fever they need to go home within the hour. Gas drops? Also, I feel way over used. I am tired of parents bringing eye drops, ear drops, or antibiotics that they "can't" get their kids to take, making me be the bad guy. I don't want them crying to come to daycare because that is where it happens! Not anymore.

Even so, I STILL have parents insisting that baby needs the gas drops. And when one got pink eye the DCM and DCD claim DCB needs to have the drops every 4 hours. I thought it was twice a day, but whatever.

So, I'm making a form that they are going to have to fill out for any kind of medicine. Anyone that wants to PM me with an e-mail address, I can attach it and send you what I make today.

[daycare]

If it's 3x a day, I would not do it.

The parent can easily fit 3x into THEIR day.

Dispensing meds is such a risky thing that I honestly don't think providers should ever have to do it unless it's for life saving every day, need to have them to live type meds.

Antibiotics? Parents can take care of it.




that's my two cents

I agreed with this. I will only administer life saving meds. I will not give anything else.

Too much liability for me.

I tell parents that I already assume a ton of liability daily, that this is just one more thing that would place a HUGE amount on me and I am not willing to do that.

I have parents tell their doctors that their childcare will not admin meds. The doctor will always change the dosage and duration for the child so that they do not need to take meds while in my care.

I will not even allow parents to come and administer them here. NO way JOSE.

[childcaremom]

And I will probably end up changing my policies. Again.

I've always had this in my policies and never had it come up. Until now.

I did add some disclaimers:
* I will administer max one dose per daycare day
* I will not wake a child from nap
* I will not rearrange snack/meal times to accomodate special instructions re: administration. If there are special requirements, child will need to remain home until medication is complete or they can arrange dosage times around daycare day.
* If food is required and child does not eat, parent will be contacted for pick up and meds won't be given.

[daycare]

And I will probably end up changing my policies. Again.

I've always had this in my policies and never had it come up. Until now.

I did add some disclaimers:
* I will administer max one dose per daycare day
* I will not wake a child from nap
* I will not rearrange snack/meal times to accomodate special instructions re: administration. If there are special requirements, child will need to remain home until medication is complete or they can arrange dosage times around daycare day.
* If food is required and child does not eat, parent will be contacted for pick up and meds won't be given.

that sounds good. If you think that will work for you the only thing you can do it try it and see if it works. You can always go back and edit your own rules when necessary.

[Blackcat31]

I am working on making a medication consent form right now.

I tried to go totally med free, and I mean everything. I am tired of storing teething products, gas drops, and Tylenol for 8 different kids that I NEVER use. I don't think the teething products actually do anything for them more than a frozen washcloth and distraction doesn't, and I feel they are way over used at home. And I feel that if a child NEEDS pain relief medication, they should be at home. I will not give it for a fever, either. If they develop a fever they need to go home within the hour. Gas drops? Also, I feel way over used. I am tired of parents bringing eye drops, ear drops, or antibiotics that they "can't" get their kids to take, making me be the bad guy. I don't want them crying to come to daycare because that is where it happens! Not anymore.

Even so, I STILL have parents insisting that baby needs the gas drops. And when one got pink eye the DCM and DCD claim DCB needs to have the drops every 4 hours. I thought it was twice a day, but whatever.

So, I'm making a form that they are going to have to fill out for any kind of medicine. Anyone that wants to PM me with an e-mail address, I can attach it and send you what I make today.

I would have given the parents two option:

Keep the child home since she would require MORE than what I already provider/offer (and Lord knows we do ALOT)

OR

Pay the wages for me to hire and assistant to come in and provide and extra set of hands and eyes since I will be devoting my time through out the day to dispense medication to a child.

There are PLENTLY of antibiotic choices that can be dosed in different time frames that do not affect the provider. Schools wont do it unless they have a nurse on site that does that kind of thing and since the nurse's ONLY role in the school district is to deal with those kinds of things, she is compensated for it.

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

No need to PM. I can paste it here. Fancy it up on Word with some check boxes and font changes. Help yourself!

Daycare Name
Licensed Child Care

PRESCRIPTION AND NON-PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION FORM

Child’s Name: _________________________________________________________

Prescription Medication
I hereby give permission to The Perfect Provider to administer the prescription medication _______________________________ that has been prescribed to my child by a licensed physician. Medication is in its original container and packaging, with the pharmacy label intact indicating the date the medication was prescribed, the child’s name, storage instructions, and dosage directions.

Non-presction Medication
I hereby give permission to The Perfect Provider to administer the following non-prescription, over-the-counter medication to my child. Medication is in its original container and packaging, with label intact indicating the expiration date, storage instructions, and dosage directions.
______ Simethicone Infants’ Gas Relief Infants’ Drops

______ Topical Benzocaine Teething Pain Relief Gel

______ Homeopathic Teething Tablets or Gel

______ Homeopathic Earache Drops

______ Homeopathic Cough/Cold/Sinus Liquid or Tablets

______ Gripe Water

Parent Signature:__________________________________________ Date:______________________________

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

Blackcat, excellent points (as always!). I will be including statements along these lines when I e-mail a reminder about my sick policy today, along with the medication form, and some wording childcaremom said about having physicians prescribe medications that can be dosed ONLY at home. Tired of being Wonder Woman today, I suppose.

[MarinaVanessa]

Me too, only life saving meds and meds for long-term medical conditions like asthma, epi-pens, etc. Typically any other meds that have less than 3 dosages can be arranged to be taken at home around daycare hours. I don't give any over-the-counter medication at all.

When a child has prescription medication that the parent says I have to administer at daycare then I require a note FROM THE DOCTOR that says the name of the child, what the child has, the medication, what the medication does/is for, dosage, times to administer, special instructions (like with/without food) and possible side effects. The medication itself has to have the child's name on it, have to match the directions given by the doctor (otherwise the directions on the bottle will be given) and I must have my own bottle which I keep here at daycare (they can ask their doctor to fill the prescription with directions to split it).

If I don't have all of that then I won't administer meds. I'll go through the note to see if they can give the meds at home instead and of not then I have a form that the parent has to sign to give me permission so give EACH med.

I also have policies about medications and how the child has to have the first dose at home to see if there are any bad reactions. For antibiotics they have to stay home for 24 hours to make sure that the antibiotics are in full effect for re-admittance and for immunizations they stay home for 48 hours to make sure there isn't a reaction to them.

Also since I'm in CA we have special regs about Incidental Medical Services like glucose monitoring, inhaled medication, epi-pens etc. so there's an additional form for that AND training that I have to take if a parent needed me to perform these which has to be taken care of before I can start.

I even still require for them to show me what they are giving their child if they come to daycare to give the meds themselves and I keep a log like schools do. Not to mention how if a child is given any type of fever reducer or pain reliever they are required to stay home for 24 hours from the time of their last dosage because like KIDZ I believe that if they're in that much pain that they need medication then they need to stay home.

In the end it becomes such a chore for the parents that it's easier for them to work around the daycare schedule for meds.