Thank you for all who gave up their time on Monday on a wet and windy night. We had a good discussion on the medicine policy and whether we should give non-persciption medication, which you may remember we were discussing on the blog over the summer. These are the main points from the meeting.
We haven't changed the policy yet and are planning to talk about it in the December team meetings, so please watch this space when we will come back to you.
1. Should we give non – prescription medicine?, If yes what does this mean?
2. Illnesses - when a child is unwell and they are brought to nursery – what do we do?
After discussion the recommendation was that the nursery should give non prescription medication, if the policy is signed by a parent and the appropriate paperwork is in place. This will then be administered either as per the instructions or with a doctor’s letter. It is important to note through that if it can be prescribed, we would prefer this. This is the general summary and we looked at this for the different classifications.
Teething gel – yes as per the pack and with the key person’s discretion
Regular pain relief (not aspirin) – yes with a six monthly doctor’s note
Anti histamines – yes with a six monthly doctor’s note
Skin cream - eczema and nappy creams - yes with a six monthly doctor’s note
Cough medication – no as there is no evidence to show that this works, we will give a drink of water to sooth the throat instead.
The actions were,
1. To take proposal to team meetings and discuss
2. Trust – it is important to recognise that there has to be trust between the key person and the parent and this should be detailed in the policy. ie if the key person does not feel that the medication is necessary this will be discussed. To reword the policy
3. If your doctor recommends infant paracetamol, as a parent please try to get it prescribed – to specify this in the policy
4. To continue to support the team on dealing with parents when they bring in an unwell child - assertiveness training
5. Refreshing sick policy with parents – what is contagious at the start of the autumn illness season
