I know it can be challenging in many ways to deal with parents of diabetics. Many times you just can't get parents to get on board with doing their best for their kids.
But what about the opposite? The ones who micromanage their kids at school?
I have a diabetic 6 year old 1st grader on an insulin pump who I've been caring for at school since Kindergarten. His family is Hispanic. Mom and Dad and sister and brother (both in high school) are awesome and involved. However, mom comes to school every day. She insists that when the nurse or health aide checks blood glucose or when the nurse pushes the button for insulin, someone watches and signs that we did it right.
Ok - we've managed with that.
Now, she's decided that if her son's BG comes back at a high number (no specificity of how high) we have to make him wash his hands again and recheck. She's evidently gotten different numbers at home that make her think he isn't doing a good job washing his hands. Well, we watch him do that as well. Mom is there every day so if she says she wants us to check again, we check again. There are no physician orders for this.
Friday she didn't come to school for the 1st time this year. Her son's BG was low before lunch so he got 2 glucose tabs. After 15 minutes it was still low, so two more glucose tabs. No symptoms by the way. After 15 minutes he was 88 and off to lunch. He ate 59 carbs (he's not a big eater) and got insulin for those carbs. An hour later he needed to be checked before PE and was 288. There are no orders to do anything at this number (he's on a pump remember) and I was confident this was due to the glucose tabs. No symptoms. Mom walked up right then and I told her about his day. She always wants to know his IOB (Insulin on Board) numbers when he is low and to be nice the aide usually writes that down (I was covering for the aide that day as she was absent). But I've been told by the pump manufacturer and the doctor and the nurse handling his case that this is not important or necessary. Plus there are no orders so I don't write it down. Then mom asked if I rechecked that high blood sugar and I said no. I didn't think he did anything wrong with his handwashing. When he got home that day his blood sugar was low. So it went from high to low in an hour. And mom thinks that's my fault because I didn't recheck.
She's requested a meeting with the principal and me with a translator. I'm obviously in contact with the child's doc and the nurse and the pump manufacturer but I wanted to know what you all do.
I know blood sugar fluctuates - you can take a blood sugar on the right hand and on the left hand and the numbers will be different.
Do you do a re-check of a high blood sugar if mom states she wants it or do you stick with the physician orders?
Seems like nursing judgment goes out the window when mom is so deeply involved. I applaud them for being such great parents but she shadows this child most of the time. She translates for him but that's another story - the teachers would love it if she wasn't in in class all day.
