Clara

Clara’s school claimed the Illinois Nurse Practice Act prevents it from training lay persons to provide her with diabetes related care.

Clara is a 5 year old, recently diagnosed with Type I diabetes.  She attends kindergarten in a large urban school district.  Because of the newness of her diagnosis and her young age, she is not able to check her own blood levels or administer insulin.  Clara’s school agreed to provide a licensed practical nurse for regular school hours.  However, they did not have a plan for who would care for Clara should the nurse leave unexpectedly in the middle of the day or call in sick. 

After two meetings with the parents, the school still had not identified who could care for Clara if the nurse were busy or unavailable, even though Clara’s doctor stated that the school should have at least two people on the premises trained to provide diabetes care for Clara.  This meant that a situation could arise where no one would be available to check Clara’s blood, administer insulin, or administer glucagon in the event of an emergency.  The school indicated that the Illinois Nurse Practice Act prevented staff in the school from being trained to provide these diabetes related tasks.

Clara’s parents requested attorneys from Chicago-Kent attend a third meeting with the school.  Click here to read a letter sent to the school district discussing why the Illinois Nurse Practice Act does not prohibit non-licensed staff from being trained to check blood glucose levels or administer insulin.  At the meeting, the school agreed it would allow the training of staff volunteers by a certified diabetes educator.  This would ensure that someone would always be on the premises who knew how to care for Clara.