Medication Administration in Early Care and Education Settings - 2024

Description

The main goals of this course are to provide early learning professionals with the knowledge and skills to safely administer medications in early care and education settings, including short-term medications (fever-reducing or antibiotics), chronic or long-term medical conditions (asthma), and emergency medications (food allergy and seizures). Acquiring the knowledge and skills for administering medications safely to children in early care and learning leads to improved safety for children.

Learning Objectives

Module 1: Ensuring Safe Medication Practices in Early Education Settings
Upon completion of Module 1, you will be able to:

• Understand why medications need to be given in early education settings.
• Discuss the role of early learning professionals to safely administer medications.
• Explain why children are at risk for medication errors.
• Understand the importance of 3-way communication between early learning providers, parents, and health care providers.

Module 2: Optimizing Medication Policies and Best Practices in Early Care and Education
Upon completion of Module 2, you will be able to:

• Know the importance of verbal and written communication to prevent medication errors.
• Recognize the importance of creating medication administration policies.
• Become familiar with federal and state licensing regulations for administering medications.
• Describe how medications should be ordered, labeled, stored, and disposed.
• Summarize steps for preparation and administration of medications.

Module 3: Medication Administration Techniques for Early Care and Education Professionals 
Upon completion of Module 3, you will be able to:

• Administer different forms of medication.
• Learn about select emergency conditions that may require administration of emergency medications.
• Problem-solve after adverse medication effects, medication errors, or medication incidents.
• Describe the role of the Poison Control Center and Emergency Medical Services (911).

Course Details

• Start Date: June 12, 2024
• Online Access Expires: June 11, 2027
• Credit Expires: June 11, 2027
• Course ID: 60536

Acknowledgements

​This module was supported in part through a grant provided by the Caplan Foundation for Early Childhood.

Faculty

Authors

• ​Andrew Hashikawa, MD, MS, FAAP
• Colleen Mayhew, MD
• Natalie Schellpfeffer, MD, FAAP

Reviewers

• Cassandra Bucholz
• Jeron Bailey