Diabetic Students - WHEN TO CALL PARENTS?

[pineappleupsidedowncake, BSN, RN]

Do you always call the parents if a child with DM is having a hypoglycemic episode? Today one of my students (7th grader), who has DMII, came in because she was feeling shaky. Her sugar was 58, so I gave her some juice and checked again and repeated once more until her blood sugar read 118 - per her care plan. She had no other symptoms and by the time her glucose was stabilized she was asymptomatic. This student's care plan says to call the parents if the student has seizures/becomes unconscious, but there are no such instructions for an episode where the student remains conscious and alert. I tend to get a little paranoid about situations like this. I'm very new to school nursing and I feel like the parents probably should be contacted, but at the same time I don't want to be calling about EVERYTHING. And I already called the mom twice that day with questions about her care plan. 

What would you do? Would you always call for a low reading? Would you send a note home? 

[BrisketRN, BSN, RN]

I would ask the parent how they would like to be contacted.  Some parents prefer to be called every time while others might just want you to send an email over.  Just ask next time you call if they want to be notified by phone of each incident or if they'd rather an email each time or an email each day.  Every family will have different preferences.

[cid1]

The plan worked so I wouldn't necessarily call or notify. I would try to keep track if there is a pattern and then I would notify parents- say if PE was before lunch and they always dropped, maybe need a snack before PE

 

[JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN]

16 hours ago, BrisketRN said:

I would ask the parent how they would like to be contacted.  Some parents prefer to be called every time while others might just want you to send an email over.  Just ask next time you call if they want to be notified by phone of each incident or if they'd rather an email each time or an email each day.  Every family will have different preferences.

Yep, this. I actually text (using my Google Voice number) with 90% of the parents of my diabetic students. It works very, very well. I have Google Voice set up to also send copies of the text to my work email. I'll include that I texted with the parent in the note. 

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

I wouldn't unless the parent told me they wanted to be alerted every time. Most parents don't. You worked the plan and the plan worked, and I am assuming that you have some way (like your EHR or the student's glucose monitor which probably tracks some reading) to let the parent "see."

[SchoolNurseK, BSN, RN]

I have a standard parent letter that I send each time the student comes to the clinic.  It includes their symptoms and what I did for them.  I rarely hear back but I feel like I cover myself this way.

[amoLucia]

OP - you might want to consider changing your screen name here to something anonymous. Lots & lots of folk read this site and social media is not always friendly.

Ask the mods for help as needed.

[Daisy Joyce]

I’m a sub nurse, so I always call, because I don’t know who the nervous parents are.  But I’ll leave a message on the machine.  They like to be kept in the loop.  The nurses I sub for also like that I go that extra mile.

[Emme Kate, BSN]

Yes yes yes. I would always err on the side of caution and call the parents just to give them a heads up. I would also be writing a note home to accompany the phone call. Keeping open communication with parents is super important. 

[pineappleupsidedowncake, BSN, RN]

On 9/11/2020 at 7:58 AM, JenTheSchoolRN said:

Yep, this. I actually text (using my Google Voice number) with 90% of the parents of my diabetic students. It works very, very well. I have Google Voice set up to also send copies of the text to my work email. I'll include that I texted with the parent in the note. 

Oh I like that idea!