Alright nurses! Help me figure this one out! Having issues with this student and family on multiple fronts.
4th grade boy with type I diabetes. Diagnosed 1 year ago. Has the Dexcom G5 CGM and an Omnipod pump. Usually very responsible with it. In the fall I attended his parent/teacher conference because parents had some concerns that his 504 wasn't being followed. They were specifically concerned that he wasn't being escorted to the health office by an adult when he was feeling or alarming that he was low. Turned out that he was not being walked to the office but was observed down the hallway while he walked to the office. Also parents were concerned that he was missing too much time by going to the health office to do finger pokes and treat his highs and lows. We came up with a plan that everyone seemed happy and comfortable with.
Fast forward 5 months. Here I am thinking everything is going along just fine when, about 2 weeks ago, I get an angry phone call from this student's father. Dad has just found out that yet another nurse (our 3rd one this year) has quit and he is angry about the turnover and the fact that every time a new nurse starts they get multiple phone calls a day while the new nurse is figuring out this student's routine and treatment. I acknowledged his frustration, expressed my concern also and my goal of keeping their son safe at school, yada, yada, yada and then directed him to my boss, the Director of SPED to voice his concerns.
I get more phone calls throughout the week about the parents' concerns that this student's treatment plan isn't being followed and that we don't trust their son to put in his own numbers and that we aren't allowing him to be independent. Their son is telling them one thing and I was able to confirm via our charting and speaking with the health office nurse and his classroom teacher that what the student is telling his parents simply isn't true.
Now we have a series of subs in the health office as we conduct interviews to find a permanent replacement. I have given them a heads up about this family and have advised them to contact me first if they have any questions and we can try to troubleshoot and only call the parents if necessary because they seem to get so angry about being contacted.
Today's sub contacted me because he is being quite defiant and uncooperative. He gets annoyed that we ask what his BG is and how many units the pump is giving him, how many carbs he's eating, etc. He seems to think (and maybe his parents do also?) that he shouldn't need to tell us any of this information. All we do is write it down and let him go on his merry way. But we are responsible for his safety and shouldn't we know this information each day?!?
Anyway his spring parent/teacher conference is tomorrow and I am attending again along with his counselor/case manager (he's currently being evaluated for SPED which I think may be part of parents' bad attitude) and his classroom teachers.
Basically I guess my question is how do I go about informing his parents about how uncooperative he is being (sometimes he is downright rude!), our need to know his daily numbers, and that he isn't being truthful with them without ruffling their feathers even more? Right now they really seem to think that we are the bad guys.
