Competence and Stress of Medication Administration Practices for School Nurses in K-12 Taiwan Schools

Abstract

We investigated school nurses’ experiences, perceived government support, school nurses’ acceptance of responsibility for medication administration, perceived stress, and perceived competence of medication administration and analyzed factors associated with perceived competence. In this cross-sectional study, from February to April 2023, we conducted an online survey of 269 school nurses serving at K-12 schools in Taiwan. The results revealed that although 71% of the participants had prior experience with medication administration, they reported low competence and high stress in areas such as drug interactions, adverse drug effects, and referrals. The school nurses’ disagreement with responsibilities for medication administration emerged as the only factor to be significantly associated with perceived medication administration competence, accounting for 22.8% of the variance. We recommend implementing continuing training programs to provide school nurses with up-to-date medication information. Additionally, the development of practice guidelines is suggested as a means of enhancing nurses’ competence and reducing their stress levels for the administration of medications.

Factors associated with continuing education needs in medication administration among school nurses

“…Our finding showed that school nurses' highest educational needs concern 'regulations on campus medical orders' and 'defining and addressing medication errors on campus'. This resonates with the findings of Reising and Cygan (2022) andYu et al (2023) which highlight the conflicts and stresses school nurses experience when providing direct services in schools, juggling their roles as school nurses and adhering to medical direct care standards. Thus, it is understandable why medication administration regulations related to disputes and medication errors are deemed by school nurses to be significant continuing education needs.…”

“…of school nurses handle medication management, and 33.0% administer injections (Yu et al, 2023). The role of school nurses in Taiwan is unique, as they are often the only healthcare providers on campus, especially when it comes to tasks like administering injections and emergency medications (Mattheus et al, 2023).…”

“…This highlights the dilemmas and stresses that school nurses encounter in relation to medication administration in schools. Identifying the scope and depth of their continuing education needs can be intricate (Yu et al, 2023).…”