My daughter has been going to this public school for nearly two years now. She has always tested herself in the clinic with no problems. Today when I went in to volunteer I stopped by the clinic, as I usually do, and saw the nurse speaking to my daughter and an aide about Emily's "privacy". So I join in on the conversation and said that I didn't think she needed any privacy. This privacy she was talking about is if there are other children in the clinic Emily has to test herself in the bathroom which is adjoined to the room. Then she went on to say that she didn't want the other children to accidentally get stuck with the needle while she was changing the lancet or get blood on themselves. I guess my question is....Do any of you have rules like this in your school? Emily is on the 504 plan but it only states that she will be tested in the clinic. So I'm guessing they can say she is being testing in the clinic. I told the nurse I didn't want Emily to feel like she had to hide her diabetes. And she went on to say that it was in the best interest of all the children doing it this way. Would any of you pursue this further or just leave it alone? Thanks for any thought on the situation.
I'm a school nurse and we don't have any rules like that. I have my clinic set up so that my kids with diabetes have a table to work at, with paper, pencils, calculator, school lunch menu w/ carb calcs, and a sharps box. It's right beside a tall cabinet so if they desire some privacy, they open the door and it shields them. Most of the time they don't really care, although they have made it clear they don't want to field nosy questions from other students.
