Good practices to enhance the care and safety of children with diabetes mellitus type 1 at school

The number of children and adolescents diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus is increasing annually. Managing the child's illness requires special care every day, which does not stop when the child is at school. It is a challenge for the health and education systems and especially for the school nurses who care for students with T1DM to properly manage the disease so that diabetes does not hinder the child's academic progress. The purpose of this study is to highlight the good practices of enhancing the care and safety of students with type 1 diabetes in the school environment by evaluating the level of knowledge of school nurses regarding the management of type 1 diabetes. The feeling of high safety and high satisfaction, felt by the parents from the care of the child with T1DM at school, is positively related to the skill level of the school nurse. Modern advances in T1DM management (closed-loop system, insulin pumps) are increasingly used by school-aged children because their use improves the care and quality of children’s lives. However, school nurses feel inadequate (perceived self-efficacy) in caring satisfactorily for students with T1DM at school. It seems that they face a lack of knowledge in the correct management of insulin, glucagon, in the management of insulin pumps and nutritional equivalents and the real knowledge of school nurses regarding T1DM is worse than the perceived knowledge. The level of knowledge of school nurses regarding T1DM is insufficient. It is necessary to introduce policies of continuous, mandatory training of school nurses in T1DM. Collaboration with diabetes providers for ongoing T1DM education may also improve T1DM management in school.

Keywords: school nursing, Type 1 diabetes mellitus,   education, knowledge