Diabetic Student Analysis

I had my fourth day of school nursing and it was very productive. I love my school nurse Brenda; she is so helpful. I love the tricks that she has taught me for assessments, such as if a child’s pulse is up, chances are something is going on. I also helped Brenda with completing the rest of the vision and hearing rechecks. And worked on interviewing my student for the IHP. Because I knew that my student’s strengths were creativity and communication, I decided to discuss why exercising is important for a diabetic patient. J.J. and I had a great discussion about how diabetics are more likely to acquire complication like high blood pressure, stroke, and cardiovascular disease. I found out that she was worried about becoming hypoglycemic because

last year, her doctor added metformin and along with her Humalog and became very sick. She is receiving Humalog and metformin together because her nurse practitioner thinks that J.J. liver may be over producing glucose, and the Humalog alone isn’t helping. J.J. and her mother state that this combination of medications has been working for her and she no longer is having uncontrolled hyperglycemia. However, she can get low easily, therefore, she a fear of becoming hypoglycemic when exercising. We discussed why it’s important for her to exercise and brainstormed ways, she would like to exercise. Because I knew that J.J. was creative, we brainstormed together about ways we could get her active; this involved walking with her dogs, riding her bike, walking/talking with her friend, and longboarding outside. Today, I learned, that she does play softball in the spring, so I was happy to hear that she is outdoors. Then we discussed ways for preventing her from becoming hypoglycemic; some interventions included checking her blood sugar before and after she exercises and possibly having a snack if she was low. I also advised her to build up her tolerance for exercise slowly. I felt good about our conversation. I truly want J.J. to be as healthy as she possibly can; she is a wonderful, bright, 12-year-old. I felt our discussion went well and I feel good, knowing that I am helping to make a difference in this little girl’s life.