THE CORRELATION BETWEEN MEDICATION ADMINISTRATION AND THE MORAL DILEMMAS SCHOOL NURSES ENCOUNTER
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Date
2018-12-07
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Authors
Grubbs, Kara Brooke
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Publisher
East Carolina University
Abstract
Medication administration practices of school nurses vary as some primarily administer medications while others delegate this task to school personnel. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between school nurse medication administration, moral dilemmas, and school nurse work environment characteristics. Data was collected during attendance at school nurse meetings where 302 school nurses completed a paper survey. Medication administration was measured by one question asking if the task was completed primarily by the school nurse or delegated. Common moral dilemmas were measured using a 14-item questionnaire on a 5-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The majority of school nurses delegated medication administration. In the total sample, there were 96 nurses who served one school and 73 (76%) of these regularly administered medications. There were no differences between the groups. There were 126 nurses who served 2 schools and 28 (22%) regularly administered medications. There were significant differences (p = < .05) for three moral dilemmas within this group. Nurses, with two schools, administering medications regularly were more likely to report concern that students did not receive the help they needed to manage their illness and lack of time to address family requests for services. They were less likely to report issues achieving health goals for students due to family situations. School nurses with two schools who primarily administer medications may have limited time for intervention with students who have chronic illness and to address family requests for services at school.