· There is an exemption in the Nurse Practice Act which covers Registered Nurses (RNs) who go on field trips with students to other states as long as they do not hold themselves out to be “RNs” to anyone in the host state.
· The RN must follow the NY Medication Guidelines when administering medications to students on the “out of state” field trip.
· Students who have an order to “self carry and self administer”, may take non-prescription medications in the original pharmacy bottle. If there is concern about sharing, the accompanying adult should hold the meds.
· For extended field trips, parents should provide the medication (prepared by student’s pharmacy) to the person in charge of the field trip.
· Parents, whose students will require medications for the trip which they do not require on a daily basis at school, should obtain physician orders & provide the medication. Chaperones should be notified of any controlled substance.
· Schools should have written policies to address medications on field trips which are made clear to both students and parents. If a chaperone is given a medication at the last minute, it becomes a judgment call on the part of the chaperone & school administration. Each situation, medical condition, age of the child, kind of student, kind of parent, nature of the medication, nature of potential side effects, and likelihood of further difficulty from the medical condition must be considered.
· Nurses should consider providing chaperones with Emergency Care Plans (see samples in our SN Tool Kit) for any student with a potentially life-threatening health issue.
We have confirmed with the states between here and Washington D.C. (because of the frequency of trips taken to our nation’s Capitol) that a NY state school nurse can practice on a short term basis in another state if that nurse cares for his/her students only and does not hold themselves out to be an “RN” to others in that state.
