Naloxone in Schools

All across the world there is an opioid epidemic taking place that can affect any one person. It does not discriminate by age, gender, or ethnicity. Knowing this information, one group is greatly at risk and that is the school aged population. Teenagers are focused on wanting to fit in with peers, and are easily affected by peer pressure. This puts them at an increased risk for experimenting with drugs. This information pushed us to research about policies in place in school systems to help fight the epidemic. In 2017 2.2 million people of ages 12-17 were illicit drug users (Levasseur et al., 2020). The high number of illicit drug users in the school aged population increases the risk for overdoses seen in schools. This pushes the need for as many personnel to be able to administer Naloxone as possible including school nurses. Many school systems across the country already have a policy in place if a situation arises and Naloxone is needed. The National Association of School Nurses has also recommended that school nurses should have Naloxone on hand. With our research, it provides the information and statistics to hopefully influence more school systems to implement one for their schools