Evaluation of the “Caring for Students With Diabetes” Course for Unregulated Assistive Persons

Delegation of diabetes care procedures to unregulated assistive persons is a necessary role of school nurses and there is limited discussion in the school nursing literature about programs to enhance this time-consuming process. This performance improvement project was designed to creatively address barriers to delegation and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of school nurses in one large education service district. The Caring for Students with Diabetes course was designed by a team of school nurses to provide unregulated assistive persons with a foundation in the knowledge and skills to safely care for students with diabetes. This three-part course was evaluated with a precourse and postcourse survey. In all 11 skills, participants showed a statistically significant increase in their comfort with each skill and school nurses reported improved delegation efficiency. Unexpected results and surprises in the process are discussed as well as recommendations for implementing this project in other school districts.