may administer medications in schools because section 49423 expressly applies “[n]otwithstanding Section 49422.” (§ 49423, subd. (a).)
Unlike the 2005 Program Advisory, which the Department issued with the Board approval required for such documents (see § 33308.5 and tit. 5, § 611), the Department apparently issued the 2006 FAQ unilaterally. In that document, the Department flatly asserts that unlicensed school personnel may not administer insulin. (2006 FAQ, at p. 1.) Ignoring its own conclusion just one year earlier that unlicensed personnel may administer medications generally, even if not by injection, the Department in the 2006 FAQ wrote that “[n]o . . . California statute” other than sections 49414 (epinephrine auto-injectors) and 49414.5 (glucagon) “allows an unlicensed school employee to administer any other medication in California public schools, even if the unlicensed school employee is trained and supervised by a school nurse or other similarly licensed nurse.” (2006 FAQ, at p. 1, italics added.) In attempting to justify this conclusion, the Department inexplicably cited section 49423 (2006 FAQ, at p. 2, fn. 2) and omitted any reference to the statute’s implementing regulations (e.g., tit. 5, § 604, subd. (b) [“Other designated school personnel may administer medication to pupils”]). In its 2006 FAQ, the Department also invoked the NPA as authority for the following assertion: “California law states, with a few clearly specified legal exceptions, that only a licensed nurse or physician may administer medication. In the school setting, these exceptions are situations where [¶] The student self-administers the medication, [¶] A parent or parent designee, such as a relative or close friend, administers the medication, or [¶] There is a public disaster or epidemic.” (2006 FAQ, at p. 1, fns. omitted.) The noted exceptions reflect statutory exceptions to the NPA. (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 2727, subds. (a) [gratuitous nursing by friends or family members], (d) [nursing services in emergencies].) But the document entirely overlooks
Chapter 23 – Provision of Healthcare Services, Charter SELPA As of 09/08/2017 CAHELP Governance Council Approved
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