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SFUSD weighing policy for insulin injections

By: Beth Winegarner
Examiner Staff Writer
January 18, 2009

Students at San Francisco public schools in need of insulin will still be able to receive any necessary insulin injections, despite challenges posed by a Sacramento County ruling. (AP file photo)

SAN FRANCISCO — Insulin-dependent diabetic students in San Francisco public schools will continue to receive the injections they need - despite a Sacramento County ruling restricting which school personnel can administer the shots.

That ruling, issued in late December, forbids nonmedical school staff from administering insulin injections, overturning a California Department of Education mandate in 2007 that allowed teacher's aides and other staff to give shots if they're trained, according to CDE spokeswoman Hilary McLean.

A group of educators and leaders in the San Francisco Unified School District are currently studying what the ruling means for the district, though officials don't believe it applies locally because it was made in another county, according to Dennis Kelly, president of the teachers' union.

However, because the ruling was based on a CDE mandate for districts statewide, it does change the rules in every district, McLean said.

SFUSD, as a matter of policy, doesn't let nonmedical staff give injections - unless no one else on site can give them, and only if staffers volunteer, according to district health director Meyla Ruwin.

The district has 32 nurses for more than 100 schools, and a little more than a dozen insulin-dependent diabetic students young enough to need help with their injections. Those students are enrolled in schools with on-site nurses, Ruwin said.

"Everyone wants what's best for kids, but what danger do you put adults in when you ask non-nurses to give these kinds of medicines?" Kelly said.

bwinegarner@sfexaminer.com



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Reader Comments

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Muniserable

Jan 18, 2009

SFUSD has a choice: Make it happen, or be sued into next week. I suggest the district's educrats stop beanplating the matter right now or they're going to be subject to levels of parental fury previously unknown.

 

SamanthaSSJ

Jan 19, 2009

I applaud SFUSD for realizing that they must address the needs of their insulin dependent diabetic students. There may be "more than a dozen... young enough to need help with their injections", but even older children with Type 1 diabetes may need guidance, assistance or oversight with their injections or pump, or with testing, or with unexpected highs or lows. That means that there are a whole lot more than a dozen - way more than 32 nurses can possibly handle.

 

No east solution

Jan 21, 2009

The fact is, having a "nurse" doesn't mean anything. A good number of nurses are downright clueless when it comes to Type 1 diabetes. It is the doctor who typically works out insulin dosing. All a person has to do is follow that plan. Giving an injection is not that hard. It's a short needle into the fat (not muscle or a vein) right below the skin. 90 degrees. Sure, there is always a bit of guesswork and risk with dosing, but that will only solved with a cure for Type 1 diabetes, not some school nurse giving the shots. Millions of lay people learn to manage their diabetes and give themselves injections daily under doctor's orders, I'm sure schools have a few people who are willing and able to learn what to do. Letting kids fall into comas and seizures (needing glucagon) is not the answer either. I'm beginning to think that homeschooling or hiring a private specially trained nurse is the way to go for these kids if all else fails.

 


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