just told me she will not train on drawing insulin from a vial and will only provide assistance from a pen. I am finding a lawyer.
Good luck, through years of being the kid pestered by school nurses I have realized that the majority seem to just be to stubborn to bother learning about diabetes.
Good luck. Perhaps you may want to speak with the shool superintendent. When my daughter was diagnosed we had significant problems with her school nurse. After much fussing and contacting superintendant she was let go. I did have to sit at school for three weeks as she finished her stint (she was union). However, our nurse was unable to even do a blood sugar check, and then proceeded to just throw my daughters md orders out, so I guess we had a little bit of crazy on our side
Is she an RN? How can she not know how to do this? I mean, I can see not having had to have done it in a while, and wanting you to show her how you want it done, but my goodness, the hospitals trained all of us parents, and we are (mostly) just regular people. She is not your doctor, she can't dictate what therapy (or delivery method) you choose to use for your daughter.
Yes she is a RN. She just refuses to do it. She isnt comfortable delegating it to others in the school. I guess legally she doesnt have to but then the district does have to provide and pay for someone who is. I called the advocate at the closest JDRF chapter and she is having me contact a few other people first. I am doing so I called someone in student support services. I will be getting a call back from the head of that and they maybe bringing in a different nurse as well. I do not want to have to bring in a lawyer but will if push comes to shove. I want to know my daughter is safe and right now I do not believe she is.
I have a question how long does it take for the glucagon to start working?
that is awful. if she is an RN it shouldn't be a problem.
Here in Canada (or at least in Manitoba) we don't have school nurses at all. anytime my boy needs insulin one of us has to go to the school as the school staff are not permitted to give insulin. once he is on the pump, they can't touch it at all, so we will also need to go everytime there is an alarm. it hasn't been a big issue yet this year as he is afternoon kindergarten, but next year he will need insulin everyday at lunch. i am going to try to get a job in his school in the fall.
If you can find a sympathetic person higher up, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that they'll decide they better move her to a different school!! Really, how hard is it to draw up a syringe? My Dad did it for his cat when he was in college in the late 60's, so not exactly sober, lol.
P.S. I meant move the nurse, not your poor daughter!
lol I knew what you meant Sarah. This woman wants no responsibility in relations to Rileys diabetic NEEDS. That is more than fine with me BUT its not district policies and it our legal right to have her diabetic needs met at there expense. This will be about the only thing out of my mouth to most anyone who gives me crap. I dont even believe this nurse she be aloud near children just because you say something with a smile on your face does not mean you are a nice person.
Thats crazy!!! Aww and I'm going to be getting my 2nd degree in nursing..this makes me so mad!
[quote user="Jessica "]
I have a question how long does it take for the glucagon to start working?
[/quote]Should be minutes. Actually if EMTs arrive before glucagon is given, they don't even use it, they just start a glucose IV. (I learned this from a mom who had to call EMTs when her son had a hypo seizure, though in that instance her son did get glucagon, but was given too much, which didn't hurt him but made him throw up for the next 24 hrs).
I asked our endo about it, and he said that it is probably not saving much time over the body's natural glucagon cascade, but that having it makes parents feel better. Maybe I'm a lax mom, but unless we are going out of town, I don't bring it with us.
lol according to the school nurse it takes 45 minutes before it starts working. I just want people trained on it for field trips and such. I forget to take hers with us if we are just running to the store and such but I pretty much so know what her numbers are every hour. She tests A LOT. I know that about the EMT's but they are more than 2 minutes away and if they are out on other calls it can take longer for them to get there. Knowing others there can treat her if need be is important to me. I need to know she is safe there. Right now I do not feel she is.
I just can't believe all of this. Isn't it an ethical violation in addition to a legal violation for the nurse to not care for a child? She went to nursing school for goodness sake! in addition to the district, can you take it to the nursing board for your state? Good luck.
I will take any action at this point to get this lady away from children in the school setting at least.
[quote user="Jessica "]
just told me she will not train on drawing insulin from a vial and will only provide assistance from a pen. I am finding a lawyer.
[/quote]
Am I mistaken here or are the pens not the same cost as the syringes and vials? I mean is it worth it to go through that much trouble just to use vials? I personally moved from vials to pens because I found it much more accurate and easier to use the pens.
I can't speak for Jessica, but my son is in kindergarten too, and he's on diluted, so he can't use a pen. They say he's old to be on diluted, but because of his weight, they say his body acts like the body of a toddler. Just found out I can't even get diluted insulin in my town!
While the pen may be the more practical option in overcoming this hurdle, it still find it unconscionable that a registered nurse would refuse to provide the care that a child needs.
Jessica, I don't know if this info will help in your state. When my son was first diagnosed and it seemed like we were going to have trouble with one particular teacher (who insisted on sending him alone to the bathroom to test when he felt low), my son's endocrinologist had us talk to the "education nurse," who was trained in all matters school related. She would be contacting the school on behalf of the state if we'd asked her to. She was well-versed in the law and what the school was required to provide. Does Riley see an endo? If so, their office might know what resources could help you in your state.
I have no clue if my insurance will even cover the pens. They only cover one type of test strips and only 200 a month for a newly dxed 9 year old that is not enough. I will never tell her not to test so I buy them out of pocket. Anyhow its not even tho point this woman a nurse will not train on a simple task of drawing up one type of insulin that my daughter needs to manage her diabetes and well to keep her alive. She is legally NOT aloud to tell me how my daughters insulin is administered. She is taking advantage of people who do not know there basic rights. So yeah its worth it NOT to change how WE do things to avoid this. I would think less of myself if I let her walk all over my daughter and her rights.
Angie there is no endo here in town. We are seeing the DNE that helped us in the hospital on Monday she is over an hour away tho and I had to change primary care docs the other day so I have to wait for the pedi to give us a referral to a endo but she has to see the new pedi first. Unfortunately one of my twin boys had a grand mal seizure last Saturday so I had to get him in first so we can get him a referral to a neuro.
I went here
http://www.coloradokidswithdiabetes.org/
They have a lot of resources and other school nurses that are educated on Diabetes care management in schools. Of course not one for my city but I emailed the one closest to them and then the director or head nurse for all of those nurses asking for help in how to deal with this school nurse or how I get a qualified person in our school to train the staff.