Legal Rights of Children with Epilepsy in School & Child Care

Administration of Emergency Antiepileptic Medication in Schools
skills”—and most of these laws do not clarify whether this restriction applies to
administration of diazepam or similar medications.
Even if state law permits the delegation of authority to administer emergency
antiepileptic medication, an individual nurse may choose not to delegate; nurses
make their own decisions about whether to delegate a task that the law permits
them to delegate. If a nurse chooses not to delegate when delegation is
permitted, the school district is obligated to provide a nurse to administer the
medication.
However, many states’ laws expressly permit UAPs to administer medications
in the case of an emergency with or without delegation of that authority by a
nurse. Arguably, such emergency exceptions would authorize UAPs to
administer diazepam and other similar medications (with or without
authorization by a nurse), but, again, there is a lack of clarity on this issue as
well.
Currently, it appears that only Kentucky requires that schools ensure that UAPs
are available to administer diazepam. Kentucky law mandates each school to
have a staff member, who has consented to provide health services generally,
available to administer the medication. Further, a handful of states, including
Texas, expressly or implicitly permit school officials other than RNs (such as
the principal) to authorize UAPs to administer diazepam or similar medications.
Appendix E contains a chart summarizing selected state laws pertaining to the
administration of medication in school. The chart addresses the extent to which
state law permits nurses to delegate to UAPs the authority to administer
medication, and highlights laws specifically addressing emergency antiepileptic
medication. A comprehensive chart summarizing all state laws on this subject is
available at www.epilepsylegal.org.
7.5Q:
What happens if the school district says that only a nurse can administer
emergency antiepileptic medication but there is no nurse available to do so
at the student’s school or at a nearby school?
A: It is important to determine if the school district’s position is based on the state’s
nurse practice act, its education code or its own rules. Sometimes, a state law
may permit delegation but the nurse for the school or the district’s health
department does not wish to delegate. If the nurse practice act requires
administration of the medication by a nurse, the district must obtain a nurse if
there is no nurse at the student’s school or a nearby school. Possible options for
the school district include contracting with a private nursing agency, hiring a
nurse or looking to the local health department.
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