Schools need nurses to care for children

There is proposed legislation in the Illinois Senate and House to address the needs of children in school with diabetes, SB 3822.

Children with diabetes and their parents can sometimes have challenges that should not be necessary at school. These challenges revolve around who will assist and care for the child as they need their blood sugars checked, insulin given, and care for low and high blood sugars.

The most skilled person to care for children with any health issue at school is the school nurse. Unfortunately, not all school districts, let alone all school buildings, have a school nurse. That is the real challenge. The sponsors of this legislation want to authorize unlicensed care aides in school. The Illinois Association of School Nurses respectfully disagrees with this legislation as it is currently proposed.

The Illinois Nurse Practice Act, states "medication administration is a nursing activity requiring the specialized knowledge, judgment, and skill of a licensed nurse." Caring for a child at school with diabetes necessitates giving medications, such as insulin and potentially glucagon. Both drugs have risks, if not handled properly.

This legislation would ask for an adult at school, who is hired to do a different job (teachers or classroom aides, for example) to volunteer to take care of the child with diabetes. One possible scenario has a teacher in the middle of classroom instruction when a student needs a blood sugar check and carbohydrates counted, then insulin calculated and given. Is it fair to add this responsibility to a classroom teacher or another employee's list of daily job duties? We see this as a serious concern.

A school nurse is not a luxury. Schools have children with a multitude of illnesses that need appropriate and skilled care.

Cameron Traut

President

Illinois Association of School Nurses

Gurnee