Do Schools Have an Ethical Responsibility to Provide Primary and/or Emergency Care?

Vol. 1 No. 4

Year: 2012

Issue: Nov-Jan

Title: Do Schools Have an Ethical Responsibility to Provide Primary and/or Emergency Care? 

Author Name: Ruth Rosenblum 

Synopsis: 

Schools and school nurses are frequently asked to care for medically fragile students who have complex medical needs including administration of emergency medications given by injection or per rectum. Since all children are entitled to a free and public education in the least restrictive environment, school personnel must be prepared to accept these students and deliver safe, appropriate care at school. This paper explores whether schools have an ethical responsibility to provide primary and/or emergency care at school. Legal precedent to date has supported children receiving necessary care; however school administration and school nurses sometimes question the ability to safely provide the care.  Additionally, in many cases nurses are mandated to train unlicensed personnel to perform these procedures.  If schools have an ethical responsibility to provide medical care, then does the legal liability override the ethical duty? The Lagana-Duderstadt Deontological-Ethical Model is used to explore this question.