The Role of School Nurse Presence in Parent and Student Perceptions of Helpfulness, Safety, and Satisfaction With Type 1 Diabetes Care

Abstract

Adolescents with type 1 diabetes (TID) and their parents depend on school nurses to keep students safe in school. Parent satisfaction with T1D care is impacted by school factors including school nurse presence. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among parental satisfaction with diabetes care in school, parental report of diabetes-related safety, adolescent report of school nurse helpfulness, and school nurse presence represented by school nurse to student ratios. The sample consisted of 89 parent–adolescent dyads. Adolescents 10–16 years old with T1D completed a questionnaire that included perceptions of school nurse helpfulness. Parents completed a questionnaire that included perceptions of T1D safety and satisfaction. Diabetes-related safety was positively correlated with parental satisfaction and school nurse helpfulness and inversely correlated with age and school nurse to student ratios. Findings validate the importance of school nurse presence to adolescents with T1D and their parents with implications for school nursing policy, practice, and research.

Barriers to and Facilitators of School Health Care for Students with Chronic Disease as Perceived by Their Parents: A Mixed Systematic Review

“…Parents perceived insufficient services for themselves, including limited parental education by school nurses [ 39 ] and a lack of access to information about managing disease [ 28 , 29 , 33 ].…”

“…Parents expected a full-time, trained disease point person in SHC [ 11 ] and were significantly satisfied with self-management in school when such a point person existed [ 35 ]. Sufficient nurse staffing was correlated with diabetes-related safety and satisfaction [ 39 ]. Second, they perceived school staff education and training as a facilitator of SHC [ 11 , 33 , 36 ].…”

“…Parents perceived supported self-care as a facilitator and that the school should help their child with independent self-care [ 33 ], which is a major facilitator [ 11 ]. School nurses’ helpfulness was correlated with diabetes-related safety and satisfaction [ 39 ]. Parents reported an increase in children’s abilities to self-manage and keep up with school work because of school nurses’ case management [ 40 , 41 ].…”

“…The following are available online at , Table S1: Critical appraisal of potentially selected articles, Table S2: Summary of the included studies. References [ 6 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 12 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ] are cited in the Supplementary Materials.…”

Implementation of School Diabetes Care in the United States: A Scoping Review

“…Barriers to forming a responsible and efficient school diabetes management team included lacking training and education for students with diabetes, school nurses, classroom teachers, and other nonmedical school personnel (Carroll & Marrero, 2006;Darby, 2006;Driscoll et al, 2015;Fisher, 2006;Gesteland et al, 1989;Hayes-Bohn et al, 2004;Herbert et al, 2015;Joshi et al, 2008;Lewis et al, 2003;Lindsay et al, 1987;Nabors et al, 2003;Sato et al, 2008;Skelley et al, 2013;Wilt, 2020). The heavy workload of school nurses and diabetes professionals, lacking attention and involvement from teachers and other nonmedical school personnel, unclear division of responsibilities and tasks between team members, and lacking effective communication between team members and parents served as additional barriers (Driscoll et al, 2015;Hellems & Clarke, 2007;Herbert et al, 2015;Jacquez et al, 2008;Lehmkuhl & Nabors, 2008;Lewis et al, 2003;Lindsay et al, 1987;Nabors et al, 2003;Skelley et al, 2013).…”