California Supreme Court Rules only Licensed Nurses Can Give Insulin Shots
November 19, 2008
California Supreme Court Rules only Licensed Nurses Can Give Insulin Shots
Last week, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the California School Nurses Association and others by overturning the state Department of Education’s 2007 advisory regarding insulin administration. Judge Lloyd Connelly ruled the advisory, designed to alleviate nursing shortages in public schools by permitting trained, but unlicensed staff to administer insulin shots when a nurse or parent was unavailable, violated the state’s Nursing Practice Act. Judge Connelly further stated Federal law did not preempt state law in this case and that the state Department of Education cannot authorize the administration of medications on its own. Representatives from nurse advocacy organizations lauded the decision for upholding regulations on the scope of medication administration by licensed personnel and noted that California public schools will likely need to hire more nurses.
For more information, please visithttp://nursingworld.org/FunctionalMenuCategories/MediaResources/PressReleases/2008PR/ANA-CA-School-Nurse-Insulin-Win.aspx