SugarHigh

THIS is why my district does not allow nurses to monitor the Dexcom readings on a personal phone or even a school device. What if the nurse is dealing with another student, the connection lags/malfunctions, there is an emergency they am attending to, etc? Our district will not accept responsibility for the nurse to monitor the student's readings for a constant 7 hour school day. The nurse would immediately be deemed liable should glucose readings go bonkers because we have access to the readings the entire time, despite what other things are occurring around us.

Does your school have a policy regarding students carrying narcotics or medication in general? Ours is zero tolerance. They are suspended for an entire school year. That might be worth mentioning to the parent.

I usually get deodorant from the P&G program, but they sent body wash this year for the boys. Did get the deodorant for girls, though.

This, This. This. It's a federal law (as long as your school receives federal funding). If the student needs accommodations to be at school and be educated and these accommodations are in their IEP or 504, whether it's a school nurse on campus, PT, temperature regulated bus, or even a 1:1 nurse, the school must provide the service at no expense to the parent. It doesn't matter if the school does not currently have that service available or if it is expensive. It must be provided or the school can lose federal funding. Parents often sue school districts over this.

As the school nurse, you can write a health plan, which could give accommodations in class, but not the 504. If you are at a public school, your district is required to have a written 504 policy which explains the evaluation process. There has to be evaluations from several sources (teacher recommendations, test scores, etc) and the medical diagnosis is just one. This explains the requirements. (Page 16 especially.) https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/504-resource-guide-201612.pdf You should definitely be part of the 504 team, but don't let them make you think that you have to write it just because it is a medical issue. We already go above and beyond!

https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201301-504.pdf See page 10... We started dealing with this in the 2016-2017 school year for diabetes and more recently for a student who receives tube feedings. The language in their IEP/504s has always stated "school nurse or qualified person," so an RN is not required to be there. All coaches are now fully trained on diabetes care when they do their annual concussion and first aid trainings. That way our T1D students can try out for any team and we know the adult there is trained in their care. One of our assistants in the special needs room took on the job as the "health aid" for the tube feedings. She stays after with the student during his club meetings each week, and makes a little extra money since she is an hourly employee. When this first came up in our district, the higher ups decided that we didn't have the resources to offer nursing services after school hours. No other district around us does. It turns out the districts around us just don't have parents that know their child is entitled to it. It is outlined in IDEA, so if your school is publicly funded, regardless of the state you are in, you are required to offer these services if it is in the IEP because health services is a "related service."

Anything with an active ingredient listed requires doctor's orders, or the parent can come to school and administer it. I used to buy peppermints to give out for sore throats-- until a little one choked on one of them.

IMO--If you are contemplating whether it's time, then it's time. I always assume that I am seeing half the problem at the most. There are probably issues that go deeper than what you are seeing, and without an intervention, they will not be seen. Filing a report can help the family get the resources they need to help their child, even something as simple as transportation to the doctor. It doesn't have to be seen as a threatening thing. You are helping somebody who needs help!

Just wait until you have a lice outbreak and the parents send their kids to school. I bet your school will want the policy changed then! Nothing brings out the crazy like those flying lice.