School Nurse Accidentally Revealed That She Was Giving A Student Medication Without His Parent’s Approval
His mother might have saved his life.
wavebreakmedia | Shutterstock We can all agree that accidents happen. It's just part of life. However, we have to be careful to ensure that our mistakes don’t become so big that they harm others.
One school nurse made a major mistake that could have had a very bad outcome if a parent had not recognized something was off.
A school nurse gave the wrong student medication for five weeks.
In a social media post, a mother shared her horror story of finding out that her son was being given medication he was not prescribed.
The mom, Sherika Bailey, who shared her post on TikTok, started by saying, “I got a story for y’all.” She certainly did.
Bailey explained that she received a strange phone call from the nurse at her son’s school. “On Monday, I received a phone call from my son’s school (the nurse) saying that my son only had two pills left and he needed a refill,” she said.
Bailey was understandably confused. Her son was not on any medication.
“I told the nurse that she had the wrong Kevin Brown and my son does not take any medication,” she recounted. “My son is a junior.”
“She says, ‘Oh, well, disregard the email I sent,’” Bailey said of the nurse’s response.
Although the nurse was flippant about the situation, Bailey knew she needed to dig deeper.
“I got home from work, and something told me to ask my son if he was getting medication at school, and he said yes,” she said.
Bailey’s son told her, “It’s for me to hear better and focus.”
“I lost it,” Bailey admitted. “I took him to the hospital and the doctor did a urine sample and blood sample.”
The results were shocking. “My son tested positive for Adderall,” she said. “The nurse gave my son another child’s medication for five weeks.”
Another nurse discussed just how serious the school nurse's mistake was.
A nurse named Crys, known as @headmedincharge on TikTok, shared her own perspective on the situation as a nurse.
“To my fellow nurses, this is the importance of doing it right every single time,” she said. “In five weeks, that nurse should have caught this medication error at some point.”
Crys also made it clear that the nurse involved in this case would be punished for her actions.
“In this comment thread, they are naming that nurse by name,” she said. “She is definitely gonna face some sort of disciplinary action if she hasn’t already.”
Crys stated that the really sad thing about the whole situation is that the nurse might not be the only one to blame.
“Now, the unfortunate thing is that this nurse is probably going to take the fall for this, and it may be that she was just completely negligent. But, often … it’s not just the people; it’s the system that’s causing these errors,” she explained.
Taking medication that has not been prescribed for you can be very dangerous.
Obviously, taking medicine that is not yours is a bad thing.
According to law firm Winckler, Harvey and McConnell, “The repercussions of receiving the wrong medication or dosage may have severe, long-lasting consequences. Physical side effects may range from mild discomfort to serious health complications. Potential outcomes include allergic reactions, adverse interactions with other medications, and organ damage.”
Poison Control stated that it sees approximately 300,000 instances of “medication errors” like this each year. When an error does occur, they recommend contacting them online or by phone immediately to know what action you should take.
Adderall is a stimulant that should never be taken by individuals without a prescription. Although increases in dopamine can create an uptick in energy in individuals without ADHD, it can also increase anxiety and depression as well as raise blood pressure increasing the risk of seizures and cardiac issues. Additionally, stimulant withdrawal can cause side effects, as well, which is why medication like Adderall needs to be weaned instead of stopped suddenly.
As for Bailey, she said her son needs more blood work to ensure there are no effects on his organs.
In this case, her mother’s intuition may have saved her son from far worse complications.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news and human interest topics.