The Importance Of Medication In Children

All staff at Gap know that this should be strictly adhered to as the aim of the policy is to protect us and the children against medication errors. The dose and frequency of a child’s medication should be very clearly stated and must always be followed exactly, this is because there is considerable risk of harming a child if they are given medication that has not been prescribed to them or if the medication they do need is given to them at the wrong time or in the wrong amount. If a member of staff were to issue a child with incorrect medicine then they could well face losing their job or end up entering a lawsuit, especially if a child becomes seriously ill.

The dangers and possible harmful effects that these medications hold for a young child will not help the parents feel too convinced about the usage of medication. As stated in Time this month, “We know that kids are not just little adults, they metabolize medications differently” (Kluger, et al). Parents might feel scared or reluctant to administer medication after hearing assertions about the dangers. Parents worry enough about their kids everyday without the use of a strong medication. The tendency to assume that doctors fear the usage of medication in children is overwhelming. It is more than clear to see why parents, or anyone affected by this disorder

Risk assessment is a powerful means by which individual children can be encouraged to manage their own medication. Through agreeing a number of risks of a child administering their own medication such as giving themselves an incorrect dose, procedures can be put into place

to unnecessarily overprescribe medications to their pediatric patients. Of these prescription drugs, opioid pain killers, antibiotics, and psychiatric medications are the most commonly overprescribed in child care. For example, opioid prescriptions have increased 300 percent in the past seventeen years (Boerner 20), over 50 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions are written each year (Murray 266), and 6.4 million psychiatric prescriptions are given to children between the ages of four and seventeen each year (Johnson 19). The overprescribing of these medications leads to children experiencing unnecessary side effects, increases the chances of addictions, and encourages drug resistance. In this essay, I will be proposing that there should be a (i) government enforced set of extensive regulations and checklists that each patient must fulfill before receiving a prescription and (ii) governmental laws prohibiting careless prescribing by doctors and hold doctors more accountable for the prescriptions they write.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a psychiatric disorder that causes children to have problems with paying attention, trouble with following instructions, have impulsive behaviors and become easily distracted. Medications, such as Adderall and Ritalin, are used to treat the symptoms of this disorder by helping the patient to focus and pay attention while also curbing their impulsive behavior and hyperactivity. Side effects of these medications are, but not limited to, anxiety, addiction and in some cases psychosis. Proponents of giving ADHD medication to children argue that ADHD is a real disorder in children and the medication does improve the symptoms of the disorder by a large margin as well as being cost effective.

When a child has difficulties with paying attention, excessive talking, and is considered hyperactive, sometimes there is a problem that needs to be addressed by a pediatrician. In addition to these symptoms your local school district may tell you that your child should be tested for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The first thing parents should do is contact their child’s pediatrician, as a result your child’s pediatrician should conduct tests using detailed psychological and physical tests related to the diagnosis of ADHD. Therefore, determining if your State Medicaid Program has prior authorizations to prescription medications to treat ADHD do they actively

Medications used to treat this condition come with risks, and parents often wish to avoid them for this reason. For those who do choose medication for their child, the worry that the medication will be used improperly is present. For these reasons, parents often look for alternatives when it comes to treating their child.

Throughout schools in the United States, there is a growing issue in our elementary through highschool aged students. Drugs and alcohol have begun to overtake childrens lives as young as twelve years old. There are many types of drugs involved from prescription drugs, which is the number one drug, to alcohol, marijuana, meth, cocaine, heroine, or inhalents.

Medication administration is not only an increasing source of civil and administrative liability for school districts, but may lead to legal questions for school counselors, psychologists, and social workers(Mazur-Mosiewicz et al, 2009). Medication and its administration in school settings by school personnel have been topics addressed by both the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the U.S. Department of Education and the federal courts as it relates to Section §504 and the IDEA. The rulings clearly suggest that schools have little power to limit their legal responsibilities, selectively deny administration of psychoactive prescriptive medication, and delegate the service to parents(Mazur-Mosiewicz et al, 2009).

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects millions of children and often continues into adulthood. ADHD causes children to have problems with paying attention, following instructions, and they can even have impulsive behaviors and become easily distracted. (mayoclinic.org/disease-conditions/adhd) Children with ADHD may also have low self esteem, depression and trouble with academics. Medications, such as Adderall and Ritalin, are used to treat the symptoms of this disorder by helping the patient to focus and pay attention while also controlling their impulsive behavior and hyperactivity (nimh.nih.gov). Side effects of these medications are sometimes, anxiety, addiction and in some cases psychosis. Many

Pediatric patients specifically have a propensity to be exceptionally soft to most medications, from this time they need to figure the bigger percentage of their pharmaceutical doses by weight. The minimum erroneous conclusion could prompt an unfriendly medication impact. More grown-up this is including the elderly, then again, are limited to, numerous doctor prescribed medications for their endless sicknesses which require examination to hold away from contraindications. On the other hand, paying little mind to whether the patient might be at danger of encountering a pharmaceutical mistake or not, all drug organizations should in a perfect world take after the "seven rights" which incorporate "the right patient, right prescription, right measurement, opportune time, right course, right reason, and right documentation". (Bonsall,

Everyday there are children receiving some kind of prescribed drug for psychological problems such as ADHD,anxiety disorder,autism,and many other disorders.However, children that are given prescribed drugs are usually given to them for convenience rather than necessity.Providing a child prescribed drugs at such a young age can lead to problems with their health in the future as well as other harming side effects,also nutrition is often overlooked and drugs prescribed may be doing more harm than good.Further more, children that are diagnosed with a psychological disorder and receive public assistance are more likely to receive off label medication which can be more dangerous. Therefore, children are not capable of sustaining the effects of prescribed medication because some children may be overdiagnosed and drugged for “parent convenience” ,there are dangerous long term side effects to some of

You are absolutely right about the parents effects on their children while using prescription drugs. Children are not dumb, they see, they feel, and understand when something isn't right. They may not understand fully, but they know when mommy/daddy is "sick" again, because they are going through withdrawals or angry/irritable because they are "fiending" for more drugs. If they are old enough to understand than they are cause even more psychological issues with the child that doing drugs is okay, or that their parent chooses drugs over themselves. Just as you said in your post, if the probability of them going into foster care or group homes is a lot higher due to their parents addictions. Which we all know can be a hard life, both difficult

In taking any medication there are always positives and negative side effects. Overprescribing medication and over diagnosing different disease in children has caused these effects to become increasingly prevent in society today. An increasing number of children and teenagers are being prescribed drugs as a “quick fix” rather than treating the root problem.

A physician could make mistakes in prescribing, the pharmacy could send the wrong medication, but who actually gave it to the patient is accountable for the consequences. For this reason, it’s our responsibility to implement change in our practice based on the evidence in order to ensure safe patient care.