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Type 1 And A Pump In The Workplace.

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aj2703

Member
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Can a person working set shifts 8 am - 4 pm with type one and a pump have their shifts changed..?

We are not talking rotating but set shift with one or two shifts finishing later say 8 pm.
 
Hi @aj2703,
Welcome to the forum.
It would depend on a number of things of which I am not familiar with: e.g. your work contract, any union and health rules, whether your GP or specialist will support such a request ( and that depends on how well you could argue the advantages of a set shift vs the disadvantages of a shift commencing after 8 pm.
Are your shifts , 8am - 4 pm, 4 pm - 12 mn, 12mn - 8 am ?
The thing is, being on an insulin pump might give you more flexibility than any other insulin regime. Of course might is not a certainty.
I am sorry that I do not have a definitive answer for you but hope the above helps anyway.
 
Hi @aj2703 Welcome to the site :)

Have you got a date for getting a pump or are you already using one ?

Using a pump will not impact on shift work, in fact it will make it easier as you can set up basal patterns to suit your shifts, it's a clever piece of kit which will help you manage and adjust according to your lifestyle.
 
Hi. Currently working 8 am - 4 pm.

There are a few people in line for shift changes. These changes are not rotating shifts. It maybe that you might be asked to work say one late shift so rather then 8 am - 4 pm over a five day week, four days might stay the same with the one starting and finishing late say midday - 8pm.

Just wondering how that would affect someone on a pump.
 
I cannot think of any reason why these working hours would be affected by having diabetes or having a pump.
Typically, I work 8:30am to 6pm. However, at no notice, I may work through to 10pm whereas other days I may finish at 5:30 and go to the gym.
I may be affected by switching from a day time (8am to 4pm) shift to a night time one (midnight to 8am) but this would be more due to lack of sleep than diabetes.
However, as @Juicyj mentions, the advantage of a pump is that you can shift your basal schedule to match your sleeping patterns which is not possible with MDI.
 
Hi @aj2703 Using a pump makes no difference with shift work as I said earlier it should in fact make your management alot easier as you can manage adjustments to suit changes in activity. I found multiple daily injections fairly restrictive to managing changes in activity patterns and any changes to basal requirements took longer to put into effect, the pump only uses quick acting insulin hence why changes are much easier to manage, but it is also down to user management too as you have to be in control of the pump to make these changes and make it suit your lifestyle.
 
aj2703 said:
Can a person working set shifts 8 am - 4 pm with type one and a pump have their shifts changed..?

We are not talking rotating but set shift with one or two shifts finishing later say 8 pm.
Click to expand...
No reason why not. I work varied shifts across the week. As it happens I do not need to make any changes to my basal rate but if my work was very physical or my eating pattern changed then that might necessitate a change in the basal pattern. Having a pump makes it easier not harder to manage changes in working patterns because you can adjust insulin by the hour.
 
Hi Everyone.

First off thank you for the advice. Secondly. It's not actually advice for me. It's a situation arising at work. We may have a change in shift times. Nothing major but it's been indicated that we maybe asked to work ONE yes ONE shift per week as a late. That late would be a 10 pm finish.

There is a guy at work who works a straight 8am - 4pm and is saying that because he is on a pump he can't be changed. I think to be honest he is playing in it and if you ask me it does a disservice to anyone who has type one on a pump who does work shifts with no problems. I also myself have a son recently diagnosed with type one so this is all a learning curve, however at 17 a pump is not for him. I think he has been incredibly brave with it to be honest and he's just delt with it. My hat goes off to him as at first the shock on the outside at least affected myself and his mum more.

Once again thank you for the advice.
 
aj2703 said:
There is a guy at work who works a straight 8am - 4pm and is saying that because he is on a pump he can't be changed. I
Click to expand...
That does seem a little strange, I'd understand it more if it was because he was on MDI. But I don't know how competent people have to be to use a pump. Maybe he relies on his clinic to make all the dosage changes because he doesn't know how???? (I'm thinking they wouldn't let you use a pump if you were innumerate, but I've stuck with MDI because it works reasonably well for me and I've never fancied canulas etc).

Congrats to your son on coping so well, 17 is a difficult age to get T1, in some ways younger is easier.
 
aj2703 said:
We are not talking rotating but set shift with one or two shifts finishing later say 8 pm.
Click to expand...
On second thoughts, I could cope with that with MDI. I think your colleague is trying it on. Though maybe he has very brittle diabetes???
 
aj2703 said:
Hi Everyone.

First off thank you for the advice. Secondly. It's not actually advice for me. It's a situation arising at work. We may have a change in shift times. Nothing major but it's been indicated that we maybe asked to work ONE yes ONE shift per week as a late. That late would be a 10 pm finish.

There is a guy at work who works a straight 8am - 4pm and is saying that because he is on a pump he can't be changed. I think to be honest he is playing in it and if you ask me it does a disservice to anyone who has type one on a pump who does work shifts with no problems. I also myself have a son recently diagnosed with type one so this is all a learning curve, however at 17 a pump is not for him. I think he has been incredibly brave with it to be honest and he's just delt with it. My hat goes off to him as at first the shock on the outside at least affected myself and his mum more.

Once again thank you for the advice.
Click to expand...
Just a thought about your 17 year old. diabetesdaily.com Diabetes Complications: Why Blood Sugar Management is not Everything Feb 2018 - there are some studies suggesting that good blood sugar control in the first 10 years of diagnosis of type 1 Diabetes might have some influence on the occurrence or otherwise of later diabetes complications. You and your son might wish to inquire from a diabetes specialist what form of treatment - insulin injections, pump etc would best control blood glucose of our son.
 
He is more then capable of making dosage changes etc. If I am being honest I just think he has it easy and does not want to even do one late shift per week so plays on it.

Not a big fan of people like that.

Thank you again for the advice :-)
 
kitedoc said:
Just a thought about your 17 year old. diabetesdaily.com Diabetes Complications: Why Blood Sugar Management is not Everything Feb 2018 - there are some studies suggesting that good blood sugar control in the first 10 years of diagnosis of type 1 Diabetes might have some influence on the occurrence or otherwise of later diabetes complications. You and your son might wish to inquire from a diabetes specialist what form of treatment - insulin injections, pump etc would best control blood glucose of our son.
Click to expand...

He does not live with me, he lives with his mum. From what she has told me he has coped with it admirably. He regularly checks himself and as far as I am aware, he has yet to have any episodes where he has had needed medical treatment. He is very active, playing football as many do his age. He is also very private and does not want something not relatively obvious but more obvious then using a syringe being attached to him. Maybe a bit later on a pump would be something he's consider, but right now not for him :-)
 
aj2703 said:
He is more then capable of making dosage changes etc. If I am being honest I just think he has it easy and does not want to even do one late shift per week so plays on it.

Not a big fan of people like that.

Thank you again for the advice :)
Click to expand...

My only comment, @aj2703 is that we very likely don't know the whole story for this guy, and why he feels he shouldn't be working a later shift. He could have other medical conditions, either as a result of or impacted by his diabetes, which he has no wish to disguss with all and sundry, and feels citing the pump (and by implication) his T1 as the reason for this stance.

I'd suggest if this suggestion is to become a reality that HR and Occupational Health, if you have that facility in your workplace, should be involved early on, to fully ascertain the art of the possible for your friend and the business. Your friend deserves to be safe, but the business also need to continue to function.
 
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