Administration of Medicine

Head Start Nursery School staff can only administer prescribed medicine from a doctor, dentist or nurse practitioner. Non-prescription medication e.g. pain and fever relief or teething gel may be administered, but only with the prior written consent of the parent and only when there is a health reason to do so.

A parent who requests that a child is given medicine needs to complete the Administration of Medicine form which details precisely the time and the amount of medicine to be administered. The parent needs to complete a 24 hour history of the administration of the medicine prior to this.

All medicine must be stored in the medicine cupboard away from the children or if appropriate in the fridge.

Once the child has been given the medicine at the appropriate time, the member of staff involved needs to sign the administration form noting the time.

Upon collection of the child, the parent needs to be told that the medicine was administered, giving precise details and then he/she needs to sign the form again to indicate that he/she has been given this information.