Nursing Guidelines for the Delegation of Care for Students with Diabetes in Florida Schools

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Purpose and Background
The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for school nurses and other
personnel from the county health departments and local school districts to help ensure that students with diabetes are provided a safe learning environment and are integrated into school activities. Guidelines do not represent a mandate to school districts but establish best practices.
This document is designed to provide basic information about diabetes, describe the
medical and legal requirements for meeting the needs of students in school, and
provide guidelines for determining when delegation to unlicensed assistive personnel is safe and in the best interest of the child. These guidelines will also assist the nurse in developing the plan of care in cooperation with the parent/guardian, student and designated care providers in the school. To ensure the safety of the students, advanced planning and preparation are required to safely identify and train individuals in the schools who are ready to provide all the special services these children may need.
These guidelines do not negate the need for calling 911 in accordance with local
policies when the student’s condition is life threatening or when immediate access to licensed school health individuals is not possible.
These guidelines represent the outcome of many meetings, current literature review,
and the collection of documents from local school districts, county health departments and other states. They do not represent the specific opinion of any institution. The guidelines are not intended to replace clinical judgment or individualized consultation with medical care providers, nor are they intended to be used as fixed protocols. They are designed to identify best practices for the management of the students with diabetes while they are under the care and supervision of the school.
“Guidelines describe a process of patient care management which has the potential for improving the quality of clinical and consumer decision making. Guidelines address the care of specific patients and populations. Position statements and other publications of the National Association of School Nurses, the American School Health Association, the American Public Health Association’s Public Health Nursing Section, the National Association of State School Nurse Consultants, the American Nurses’ Association and others, when specific to aspects of school nursing practice, may be regarded as guidelines” (National Association of School Nurses [NASN], 2001).
“While standards are intended to be rigid and mandatory—making exceptions rare and
difficult to justify—guidelines are more flexible, although they should be followed in most cases. Guidelines can be tailored to fit individual needs that are influenced by the patient [student], setting, resources and other factors” (State of Florida Agency for
Health Care Administration [AHCA], 2001).

Please visit the web site to view the entire guidelines.
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