Scenario: Administering Paracetamol To Reduce A Fever

[kk89]

Hi i am just wondering about when you administrate paracetamol to reduce a fever to child. Its a scenario where a child develops a fever while in care.
it says to identify the required documents to be maintained for illness e.g reduce a fever with paracetamol..what staff are required to keep in record
for this kind of situation.

I have put down so far:
-Enrollment form/child's medical and health record
-Incident, injury, trauma and illness record form

Am i on the right track?

[Lorina]

I found the following in a centres policy:

Guidelines for administration of paracetamol

Families must provide their own paracetamol for use as directed by a medical practitioner. Paracetamol will be kept in the locked medication container for emergency purposes should authorised collectors not be contactable.

To safeguard against the over use of paracetamol, and minimise the risk of masking the underlying reasons for high temperatures, educators will only administer paracetamol if it is accompanied by a doctor’s letter stating the reason for administering, the dosage and duration it is to be administered for. If a child presents with a fever at the education and care service, the family will be notified immediately and asked to organise collection of the child as soon as possible.

The family will be encouraged to visit a doctor to find the cause of the temperature.

While waiting for the child to be collected, educators will implement the following procedures to reduce the child’s fever and discomfort:

• Remove excess clothing to cool the child down
• Offer fluids to the child
• Encourage the child to rest
• Provide a cool, damp cloth for the child’s forehead
• Monitor the child for any additional symptoms
• Maintain supervision of the unwell child at all times, while keeping them separated from children who are well.

Reference: Sample Policy - Medication Administration

Hope this helps,

,
Lorina