Medication Administration In Family Child Care Homes: A Comparison Of State Regulations With National Standards
The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare the 50 state and D.C. family child care home regulations with standards regarding medication administration in Caring for Our Children- National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs, 3rd edition (CFOC, 2011). A data collection instrument, which included seven CFOC (2011) standards and three CFOC (2011) partial standards on medication administration, was developed by a team of national experts, and used to measure compliance of state regulations with the standards. None of the states' regulations (N=51) met the criteria for all ten standards. Most of the states (98%) met some criteria for standards on medication administration (94%), labeling, storage, disposal (94%), contents of medication record (88%), and maintenance of records (73%). However, only a few states had regulations which included some of the criteria for training of caregivers (27%), a medication policy (35%), and records of injury (12%). Similarly, the partial standard regarding sun safety was only fulfilled by 16 states (31%). The other two partial standards regarding insect repellant and care plans for children with special health care needs were fulfilled either partly or completely by only 13 states (25%) and 8 states (16%), respectively. Most state regulations for medication administration in family child care homes do not meet CFOC (2011) standards, thus failing to ensure safe medication administration practices and optimal health outcomes for children in these settings.
Child care, Child care regulations, Medication administration
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