Updated Diabetes Guidance and Diabetes Management Plan

Attached to this email is updated guidance issued by the Connecticut State Departments of Education (CSDE) and Public Health (DPH) regarding the ability of a school nurse to collaborate with a parent/guardian regarding insulin dosing for the parent/guardian’s child during school hours and at school-sponsored events.  You will also find attached to this email a model Diabetes Management Plan and Authorization for Medical Treatment Form (DMP).  The attached updated guidance and DMP is also included in the CSDE’s document titled, Learning and Diabetes: A Resource Guide for CT Schools and Families.

Please note that the attached guidance supersedes all previous guidance on this topic issued by either CSDE or DPH.

The guidance provides that school nurses are required to implement physicians’ orders that authorize a school nurse to adjust the timing and/or dosage of diabetes medication of a student with diabetes within specified limits by consulting with such student’s parent/guardian regarding the parent/guardian’s proposed adjustment of insulin administration during school hours and at school-sponsored activities to the extent reasonably practical, understanding that the nurse retains his/her professional judgment regarding the adjustment dose he/she will administer. In order for the school nurse to implement the physicians’ orders, the student’s DMP must include an order by the student’s physician authorizing the school nurse to make dosage adjustments within the same range(s) authorized for the parent/guardian to propose.

The goal of the above is to facilitate the communication of essential information regarding a student’s medication adjustment needs that the student’s physician has determined is within the experience and training of the parent/guardian of his/her patient, so that students with diabetes can receive necessary medical care from a school nurse during school hours and at school-sponsored activities. The DMP and diabetes guidance may be found on the CSDE’s School Nurse Web page atwww.ct.gov/sde/schoolnurse.