Keeping kids safe when it comes to medication at school - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

If your child needs medication, how do you make sure the school stays on top of the situation? Students today are taking medication at school for all kinds of things -- allergies, asthma, seizure disorders, diabetes, and attention deficit disorders.
    
One veteran nurse says it's more important than ever for schools and parents to work together to make sure students are safe.

In the nurse's office at Oakhurst Elementary, 7-year-old Kandace, an asthmatic, gives herself a breathing treatment with a little coaching from school nurse Elizabeth Hanna.

"We practice and we teach them ownership.  This is your body, and this is your responsibility to learn to take care of it," said Hanna.

In six years as health coordinator for the City Schools of Decatur, Hanna has seen a big jump in the number of students taking medication.
   
"I chase down a lot of kids, because their school day is really busy.  They've got a lot of responsibilities that they have to juggle," said Hanna.

Hanna says schools and parents need to work together to keep students safe. The first step, if your child needs medication, let the school administration know.
 
"Some parents feel like there's a stigma.  So we do a lot of educating about, ‘This isn't a stigma. Your child is not going to be isolated or identified as being different,'" said Hanna.

She says parents should ask how the school handles medication.

"Who gives the medication, and how do you know what medications to give," said Hanna.  "And then the other question I would ask is, ‘If something happens to my child, if there is an emergency, what does your school do?" said Hanna.

Hanna says communication is critical, and the information parents share is kept confidential.  

"And so I just try to reassure them that this stays within a very close group of people, your nurse, her support team, and the people that absolutely have to know, Hanna said.

In the past, it was pretty common to see kids lined up and sent off to the nurses office for medication. There wasn't a lot of privacy.

Hanna says that's changed. Many schools now abide by very strict federal HIPPA confidentiality regulations, so they are not allowed to give out any information about a student's medical condition.