§ 25-21,280.School, educational service unit, early childhood education program, school nurse, medication aide, and nonmedical staff person; physician; health care professional; pharmacist; immunity; when.
Article 21: Special Proceedings and Actions · Last amended 2017 · Last verified July 22, 2026
In one sentenceThis section shields school nurses, trained nonmedical staff, physicians, and pharmacists from civil liability when they respond to a student’s life-threatening asthma or allergic reaction under an approved emergency protocol, unless their conduct is willful or wanton, or the staff member is impaired by drugs or alcohol.
Full Text of § 25-21,280
Text size
(1) Any person employed by a school approved or accredited by the State Department of Education, employed by an educational service unit and working in a school approved or accredited by the department, or employed by an early childhood education program approved by the department who serves as a school nurse or medication aide or who has been designated and trained by the school, educational service unit, or program as a nonmedical staff person to implement the emergency response to life-threatening asthma or systemic allergic reactions protocols adopted by the school, educational service unit, or program shall be immune from civil liability for any act or omission in rendering emergency care for a person experiencing a potentially life-threatening asthma or allergic reaction
event on school grounds, in a vehicle being used for school purposes, in a vehicle being used for educational service unit purposes, at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event, at a facility used by the early childhood education program, in a vehicle being used for early childhood education program purposes, or at an activity sponsored by the early childhood education program which results in damage or injury unless such damage or injury was caused by the willful or wanton act or omission of such employee.
(2) The individual immunity granted by subsection (1) of this section shall not extend to the school district, educational service unit, or early childhood education program and shall not extend to any act or omission of such employee which results in damage or injury if the damage or injury is caused by such employee while impaired by alcohol or any controlled substance enumerated in section 28-405.
(3) Any school nurse, such nurse's designee, or other designated adult described in section 79-224 shall be immune from civil liability for any act or omission described in such section which results in damage or injury unless such damage or injury was caused by the willful or wanton act or omission of such school nurse, nurse's designee, or designated adult.
(4) A physician or other health care professional may issue a non-patient- specific prescription for medication for response to life-threatening asthma or anaphylaxis to a school, an educational service unit, or an early childhood education program as described in subsection (1) of this section. The physician or other health care professional shall be immune from liability for issuing such prescription unless he or she does not exercise reasonable care under the circumstances in signing the prescription. In no circumstance shall a physician or other health care professional be liable for the act or omission of another who provides or in any way administers the medication prescribed by the physician or other health care professional.
(5) A pharmacist may dispense medication pursuant to a non-patient-specific prescription for response to life-threatening asthma or anaphylaxis to a school, an educational service unit, or an early childhood education program as described in subsection (1) of this section. The pharmacist shall be immune from liability for dispensing medication pursuant to a non-patient-specific prescription unless the pharmacist does not exercise reasonable care under the circumstances in dispensing the medication. In no circumstance shall a pharmacist be liable for the act or omission of another who provides or in any way administers the medication dispensed by the pharmacist.
(6) For purposes of this section, the name of the school, educational service unit, or early childhood education program shall serve as the patient name on the non-patient-specific prescription.
A student in the middle of an asthma attack or a severe allergic reaction needs help within minutes, often from whoever happens to be nearby, not necessarily a nurse. Section 25-21,280 makes that quick response legally safer for the people who give it. Employees of an accredited school, an educational service unit, or an approved early childhood education program, whether serving as a school nurse, a medication aide, or a nonmedical staff person trained to carry out the institution’s emergency asthma or allergy protocol, are immune from civil liability for their acts or omissions in responding to that emergency. The immunity covers incidents on school grounds, in a school vehicle, at a school-sponsored activity or athletic event, and the equivalent settings for an educational service unit or early childhood program.
That immunity has limits. It does not cover willful or wanton conduct, and it does not cover an employee whose act or omission causing the injury happened while that employee was impaired by alcohol or a controlled substance. It also does not extend to the school district, educational service unit, or early childhood program itself; the immunity protects the individual responder, not the institution employing them.
The section extends similar protection up and down the chain that makes emergency medication available. A physician or other health care professional who issues a non-patient-specific prescription, one written to the school, service unit, or program rather than to a named student, for emergency asthma or allergy medication is immune from liability for issuing it, unless the physician failed to exercise reasonable care in signing the prescription. A pharmacist who dispenses medication under such a prescription gets the same protection, immune unless the pharmacist failed to use reasonable care in dispensing it. Neither the physician nor the pharmacist answers for how someone else later administers the medication.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a school nurse liable if something goes wrong while responding to a student’s asthma attack?
Generally no. Section 25-21,280 grants immunity from civil liability for acts or omissions in that emergency response, unless the conduct was willful or wanton.
Does this immunity cover a teacher trained to use emergency allergy medication, or only nurses?
It covers any nonmedical staff person the school, educational service unit, or program has designated and trained to carry out its emergency asthma or allergic reaction response protocol, in addition to school nurses and medication aides.
Is the school district itself protected from a lawsuit under this section?
No. The immunity in subsection (1) protects the individual employee, not the school district, educational service unit, or early childhood education program.
What breaks the immunity for a staff member who responded to the emergency?
Willful or wanton conduct breaks it, and so does impairment by alcohol or a controlled substance at the time of the act or omission causing the injury.
Can a doctor be sued for writing an emergency asthma prescription to a school instead of to a specific student?
The physician is immune from liability for issuing a non-patient-specific prescription unless the physician failed to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances in signing it.
Is a pharmacist liable if a student has a bad reaction to medication dispensed under a school’s non-patient-specific prescription?
Not if the pharmacist exercised reasonable care in dispensing the medication; the pharmacist is also not liable for how another person later administers it.
What name goes on a non-patient-specific prescription for a school’s emergency medication supply?
The name of the school, educational service unit, or early childhood education program serves as the patient name on the prescription.
Source & verification. Section text and the amendment-history citation are
reproduced verbatim from the Nebraska Legislature, Revisor of Statutes, enacted by the
Nebraska Legislature. Last verified July 22, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as:school nurse immunity asthma and allergy nebraskaemergency allergy medication immunity for school staffnonmedical staff liability protectionnon-patient-specific prescription immunitypharmacist immunity for school medicationlife-threatening allergic reaction school liability