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

[Katnip, RN]

I have to back the teachers on this also. There is a lot more to managing a diabetic emergency than giving a shot. I personally would not want that responsibility without a lot more education, not training behind me.

Agree also, each and every school should have a full time nurse on site. It boggles my mind that in some schools secretaries are giving meds. Would they even recognize an adverse reaction in the classroom 20 minutes later?

[armyrn]

I should not give the daily trigonometry lecture. Teachers should not manage chronic diseases. That's why we (nurses and teachers) have separate schools.

[veteranRN]

You know, I completely agree with everyone else on this one. It does take on a different view though when it is your own child you are talking about. I agree that time would be better spent lobbying for a full time school nurse on the premisis. One who could perform a one touch before giving insuling or glucose.

[Nurse Ratched, RN]

Gotta go along with the teachers here.

http://www.aft.org/topics/diabetes/index.htm

Here's the official position of the AFT on this issue.

They strongly support having more nurses in our schools.

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Another nurse who agrees with the teachers.

steph

[Mermaid4]

If you are going to be a teacher and be responsible for children you DO need to recognize the signs and intervene if necessary. As a former diabetic teaching nurse, I think it is ludicrous not to at least do that just because you might be "uncomfortable"..If a child with a severe peanut reaction had an anaphylactic crisis I would HOPE his or her teacher had been educated to and was willing to administer the epi pen in order to prevent the possible demise of the child....My personal opinion....

[Mermaid4]

Looks like I am the odd one out here, but I stand by my feeling that teachers ought to at least be somewhat involved..I do understand the reluctance, but in my years of diabetic teaching, it didn't take a rocket scientist to involve and teach the families, friends and yes, TEACHERS, who were willing and able to learn along with the families in the program...And, there are some school nurses I wouldn't let manage my child....So, while I see the good points and bad points of both views, I stand with my initial opinion...SOMEone has to be first line of defense in the classroom, even if it means just minimizing time before calling someone who is cognizant of the situation.

[jnette, ASN, EMT-I]

Nope... gotta go with the teachers here.

I, too, would have concerns about their assessments (or lack thereof).

Far better to push for a comptetent school nurse in EVERY school.

[Ms.Hobbes]

I have to agree with the teachers on this issue. They are already carrying many hats in school and to expect them to add that one is not fair and unsafe.

[louloubell1]

I have to agree with the teachers on this issue. They are already carrying many hats in school and to expect them to add that one is not fair and unsafe.

I am in agreement with what most posters are stating. I don't think it is fair or safe to expect that of our teachers. That made me think of something though.....

What if we weren't talking about diabetes? What if we were talking about a young child with a known allergy to bees who gets stung on the playground. Waiting for EMS to arrive before hitting the child with an Epi pen may well cost him his life as we all know. So, if the child isn't able to use the Epi pen himself, say he has already passed out or is too fearful to use it, is it reasonable to say that the teacher should be able to use it in the absence of the school nurse? What do you all think?

Just as a side note, I'd like to thank the OP for this thread. I have to do a presentation on some nursing related policy which is a current concern for one of my masters classes, and I think I have found my topic! This would be a good one.....

[fab4fan]

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.

[kidluvinRN]

I agree with the other posters that the answer is to have nurses in the schools. I've read several articles on this issue (as a child psych CS, I've always worked closely with the schools), and it's not that teachers don't care about what happens to kids with health problems -- it's that they don't want to be put in dangerous situations for which they're not prepared. Thanks to the "mainstreaming" trend, kids with every kind of physical disability and chronic illness are in the public schools, and administering insulin is just the tip of the iceberg -- I've read of teachers who have been expected to suction trachs and do urinary catheterizations on kids in their classes (while continuing to supervise all the other kids and maybe do a little TEACHING, too), and they rightly do not feel qualified or competent to perform these kinds of interventions (besides which, it's not what they signed up for -- if they wanted to suction trachs and cath kids, presumably they would have gone to nursing school in the first place ... :) )

I agree with the AFT on this, and respect them taking a stand.

This is a very HOT topic in my community. Many more kids with chronic illness and disability are going to their neighborhood schools. Without a trained health professional in each school the only way to manage these children is to delegate aspects of their care (gastrostomy feedings, medications, straight caths, tracheal suctioning, and rectal seizure meds) This statement from the AFT reflects the reluctance of teachers to do this. I am glad for their support nursing should be for nurses. Our children deserve no less. I am afraid there will be bad outcomes before we strengthen the numbers of school nurses and take seriously the healthcare of this very vulnerable population.