Nurses -1; California Department of Education - 0

The idea of a non-nurse, non-medical, non-parent person giving insulin to a young diabetic strikes horror in the heart of most nurses, but until the end of 2008, “health technicians” in various California school districts were allowed to do so.

These non-nurse school personnel were given the mandate/permission to do this because of a measure enacted by the California Department of Education in 2007. But now a state court has said otherwise and ended the practice. The judge ruled that the board of education cannot supersede California’s Nursing Practice Act.

Not everyone is happy about the nurse-only policy because it limits the number and type of people who can administer insulin to school children.

One of those is Oak Park Unified School district, northwest of Los Angeles. Like many districts, its nurses are spread pretty thinly. Oak Park has only two nurses to care for about 3,700 students, according to the assistant superintendent of educational services. (The nurses are contracted, not school district employees.) The district previously had trained “technicians” who were allowed to give insulin, and now some parents and the district are concerned about a situation in which a nurse is not available.

“Many of our parents are opposed to this (court ruling),” Cliff Moore, assistant superintendent of educational services, told the Ventura County Star. “They feel it limits services. If a credentialed school nurse or registered nurse was not available for immediate access, it can cause some problems. The court mandate really ties everyone’s hands.”

Of course, nurses know that administering insulin is more than just giving a shot. There is a lot of information and knowledge that backs up that procedure.

“It’s about assessing the whole situation and what’s going on with the child,” Sheila Raives, a school nurse in Ventura for 12 years, told the newspaper. For now, if there’s an emergency situation, school staff is instructed to call 911.

That suits some of the non-medical staff just fine. They are happy the responsibility of caring for diabetic kids is no longer theirs.

Do you think non-medical school employees are capable of being trained to care for diabetic children?

Or should the responsibility be restricted to nurses?

Tell us what you think.