Teachers' Group Votes Against Helping Children w/Diabetes

[ham22]

my sister sent this to me and i just wondered if anyone else had heard about this and what they thought of it. she has a 12year old son with diabetes and she has fought with the school system over and over trying to get someone to help him if he has some type of reaction. they won't give him any type of help if he needs it- basically will let him (god forbid) die or go into a coma because they are not willing to learn how to give a shot. :angryfire my sister has told them she will sign a paper saying it is ok for them to do whatever is necessary to help him if something happens but they still won't budge. she had to teach her 11 year old son and 5 year old daughter how to care for him and give him a shot if he ever has a reaction at school and can't help himself. -sad isn't it?

the american federation of teachers will convene on july 13 for their annual meeting, at which they will vote on a resolution that opposes allowing school personnel who are not nurses to provide any diabetes care at school. the ada has a major action alert going on about this today, and i wanted all of you to be aware and take action.

please read the following, and take a moment to click on the link and send letter of protest to the american federation of teachers.

please also forward this action alert to others. we need to raise awareness and fast.thank you!

teachers' group votes against diabetes

=========================================

as a person caring for children with diabetes, you have a very personal understanding of

why we must manage diabetes so carefully. please take a moment, read this,

and take action to help protect children with diabetes.

kids with diabetes must be kept safe and must be able to manage their

diabetes while they are in school or at school-related activities. to help

them do this, it is vital that an adult be present to assist younger or less experienced students with routine diabetes care

tasks or to come to the aid of any student experiencing a diabetes

emergency.

in a perfect world, a school nurse would be available for every student,

anywhere, any time. in fact, the american diabetes association supports

having a full-time nurse in every school. sadly, we live in a world where

most schools do not have a full-time school nurse. and even when a school

does a have full-time nurse, he or she is not usually present on field trips

or during extracurricular activities. even if they are, they can't be

expected to be everywhere a student with diabetes might be all the time.

but as we know, diabetes is a full-time disease

the country's top pediatric endocrinologists and nurses have come up with a

safe solution: train other school personnel to provide diabetes care when a

school nurse is not present.

experience has shown us that there is no shortage of school staff willing to

volunteer to provide this care. and we know that they can be trained to

effectively provide the assistance our children need. the only problem is

that sometimes state laws and policies prevent them from doing so.

unfortunately, at its convention starting on july 13th, the million-member

american federation of teachers (aft) is going to vote on a resolution that

opposes allowing school personnel who are not nurses to provide any diabetes

care at school. the resolution states in part that:

* the aft will lobby against school nurses training non-medical school

personnel to assist children with their diabetes care; and

* the aft will lobby against the use of non-medical school personnel

trained to administer routine and emergency care to students with diabetes.

this plan is a disaster for our students with diabetes. our children are

going back to school next month and there won't be a nurse in most of their

schools. they will go on field trips and will be in the band and will play

on the football team and there won't be a nurse available

our children need someone available who can provide the help they need.

let the aft know that the safety of students with diabetes is at risk before

their national convention convenes on july 13th. click here to take action:

https://secure2.convio.net/adap/site/advocacy?id=412&page=useraction&jservse

[ktwlpn, LPN]

I am with the majority here-I believe that every school needs a nurse in attendance at all times.....Teachers should be certified in CPR-or at the very least each school should have a number of certified staff on hand.....Other then that-call 911.... I don't belive that teachers should be expected to intervene in any other way...if students have special needs they they should have attendant care provided-or their families can help with the burden.........How can you expect the teacher to turn away from the rest of the class to the benefit of one?

[Mermaid4]

I am just expecting them to have cognizant first hand knowledge, just as we expect family members to have...Other than that, I understand everyones reluctance to have them be responsible enough to respond appropriately. Of course, I think that might be looked at differently were it a family member of those who disagree, who was involved, or compromised in any way because a teacher either couldn't or wouldn't be appropriately involved..Can respect that I am on the unpopular side here....See the other side as well...Still disagree...

[Katnip, RN]

The thing is, family members don't take on the responsibility as part of their profession. Teachers would have to, and that puts an enormous burden of liability on them.

[hypnotic_nurse]

Teachers should teach. Schools should have nurses to take care of medical things -- if there is no nurse, parents should insist on it, and not take out their ire on the teachers.

Teachers' roles have already been expanded way beyond what they should be. And I just can't see loading the liability for medical choices onto them as well. You might get a few teachers who'd be willing to be trained as CDEs (if they are eligible) to help with diabetic kids in the schools -- but they'd have to be paid extra if they're asked to do an extra job.

If teachers had wanted to be nurses, they'd have gone to nursing school.

[ktwlpn, LPN]

I am just expecting them to have cognizant first hand knowledge, just as we expect family members to have...Other than that, I understand everyones reluctance to have them be responsible enough to respond appropriately. Of course, I think that might be looked at differently were it a family member of those who disagree, who was involved, or compromised in any way because a teacher either couldn't or wouldn't be appropriately involved..Can respect that I am on the unpopular side here....See the other side as well...Still disagree...

Look at it in this way for a second--the family can be expected to have a certain level of knowledge about their child's problems-a teacher may have SEVERAL students with a myriad of problems......

[Mermaid4]

I see everyone's point here , HOWEVER, if you are taking on the responsibility of MY sick child in your class or school, you had better be at least somewhat cognizant of signs, symptoms and avenues of intervention to take in the event an emergency arises...I just came from a school meeting at which they mentioned kids would not be allowed to take peanut butter sandwiches to school because there were people with peanut allergies on some busses...Well, if I want to send my kid to school with a peanut butter sandwich, I will do so WITH the admonishment that he or she will not take their lunch out on the bus or anywhere else other than the specified area....If they are so worried about things like peanut allergies, which can kill a person, then my diabetic child, who would also potentially be in danger, should be at least as well thought of..Using the logic of some of the posts I have seen, it would seem to me that I should not intervene if I see someone collapse with something other than a baby crowning, I should not help, for if I am a nurse, that sort of thing is not MY thing..But, I would do whatever I could to help that person...I am not trying to change anyone's mind here and certainly have no intention from varying from my own opinion, but, I am not sending my children anywhere that a teacher doesn't feel either the need or desire to be appropriately involved. Fortunately, that isn't the case in my area .....

[kidluvinRN]

Mermaid4, I think there are two points here. One is school staff responding to emergencies. The other is school staff providing routine nursing care. School staff should be trained in basic first aid and CPR. In my area I believe that a school must have 1 trained responder for 60 children in a building.

[Katnip, RN]

Mermaid4, you specialize as an L&D nurse, but you've still had enough education and background to intervene in most emergencies. You know to immobilize a neck injury, etc. I'm an emergency nurse, but if I HAD to, I could deliver a baby.

If you expect teachers to be able to give injections for diabetes emergencies, then they will have to be able to treat every other child with a wide variety of illnesses. Withholding peanut butter sandwiches is not the same as having to actively intervene in a medical emergency.

I've had neighbors ask me to administer allergy shots to their kids that was drawn up at their doctor's office. I very politely refused. I know I'm professionally liable for what I give, and I'm a nurse.

Again, it's a matter of liability. Teachers should not be forced into administering medications and taking on the liability for it.

Maybe the school can hire a med tech or a nurse. Every school should have at least one actual nurse. Unfortunatley I know schools rarely allow for it in their budgets. But I still think it's unfair to pile more responsibility on teachers for doing something that is so far outside their basic requirements.

[smk1, LPN]

IMO, an epi pen is a bit different...pretty straighforward. It's not the same as sticking a kid to check his blood sugar, then having to draw up the appropriate dose/give glucose if needed.

as a former school health assistant i have to agree with this. The pens were very straight forward, (no drawing up anything, worrying about air bubbles, worrying about needles breaking off in a body part etc... :chuckle ) anyway there is no substitute for a school nurse, I personally witnessed our nurse refer 2 students to the pediatrician because of symptoms that suggested diabetes. Yup they had it. (one had to be hospitalized before the parents would take the kid in to the doc though) Also properly assesing bone fractures, what cut needs to be stitched, child abuse issues, finding free health and dental care for those that need it, Referring head injuries that most of us non-licensed personell would not have referred, and on and on. I feel that insulin administration is for nurses. @With a diabetic parent I personally have seen the havoc that can be brought on by improper dosing. :uhoh21:

[smk1, LPN]

I see everyone's point here , HOWEVER, if you are taking on the responsibility of MY sick child in your class or school, you had better be at least somewhat cognizant of signs, symptoms and avenues of intervention to take in the event an emergency arises...I just came from a school meeting at which they mentioned kids would not be allowed to take peanut butter sandwiches to school because there were people with peanut allergies on some busses...Well, if I want to send my kid to school with a peanut butter sandwich, I will do so WITH the admonishment that he or she will not take their lunch out on the bus or anywhere else other than the specified area....If they are so worried about things like peanut allergies, which can kill a person, then my diabetic child, who would also potentially be in danger, should be at least as well thought of..Using the logic of some of the posts I have seen, it would seem to me that I should not intervene if I see someone collapse with something other than a baby crowning, I should not help, for if I am a nurse, that sort of thing is not MY thing..But, I would do whatever I could to help that person...I am not trying to change anyone's mind here and certainly have no intention from varying from my own opinion, but, I am not sending my children anywhere that a teacher doesn't feel either the need or desire to be appropriately involved. Fortunately, that isn't the case in my area .....

teachers have responsibility for so many children now, some classes hit close to 30 for 1 teacher. I think every person should be first aid and cpr certified for emergencies and know what to do for anaphylactic shock. Management of chronic illness is a such a complicated issue that i can completely understand someone not wanting to take on responsibility for the monitoring of chronic disease as well as remembering, recognizing, and knowing how to treat signs and symptoms. :imbar Remember that once you accept this reponsibility you may have to also take responsibility for a negative outcome (or the school district will), besides what if they aren't just taking on responsibility for your childs illness, but 2 others with diabetes, 3 more with moderate to severe asthma, 2 with ADHD, another with rage disorder and on and on. All I am saying is that in the public school system there are simply not enough hours for the teacher to get HER job done, let alone the job of a medical professional. This is why a school nurse should be required in EVERY SCHOOL!

[Mermaid4]

Good points here BUT I don't expect teachers to give injections for diabetic emergencies...I DO expect them to recognize an emergency and since I used to be a diabetic teaching nurse, I don't think it is unreasonable for them to be able to differentiate between the common signs of either hypo or hyper active reactions because either one can mimic ADD ADHD and many other sorts of attentive orders that can get the child mislabeled..Not to mention that an injection would not be the first course of action necessarily, but that a glass of juice would be , and NOT orange juice in the case of kidney involvement....Then, what about the peanut allergy person, or someone with some other sort of severe allergy who requires an injection of an epi pen and cannot give it to him or herself. As someone who has suffered an anaphylactic reaction, there really isn't a whole lot of time to ponder the point...I don't disagree with the concern here, but there has to be a level of involvement for people supposedly intelligent enough to teach and therefore accept compromised children into the school environment. I do appreciate all the points presented , however.

[KRVRN, BSN, RN]

I think it would be reasonable for a teacher to recognize that something is happening, and knowing it is a diabetic child, to conclude that it's something diabetic related. I don't know that expecting a teacher to differentiate between what kind of reaction he's having is fair.