Graduation Year
2020
Publication Date
Spring 2020
Abstract
For patients with diabetes in acute care settings, researchers report that it is challenging for the healthcare team to coordinate capillary blood glucose (CBG) monitoring and insulin administration with mealtimes. If insulin dosage is calculated from CBG values that are not updated, patients may experience dosing errors and uncontrolled CBG. Uncontrolled CBG increases patients’ risk of complications. To improve diabetes management, some hospitals have implemented policies aimed at improving the coordination of CBG monitoring, insulin administration, and mealtimes. In this study, the researcher studied the effectiveness of including an educational card on patient meal trays on the timing of CBG monitoring, insulin administration, and meal tray delivery. The effect on glycemic control was also examined. The educational card was placed on patient meal trays and prompted the patient to contact the nurse to receive meal-time insulin before the consumption of the meal. Data were collected on 60 patients (control group n = 30, test group n = 30) at a 433-bed level-1 trauma center in central Illinois. The educational card did not significantly decrease the timing between CBG monitoring, insulin administration, and meal tray delivery, but the implications from this study can be replicated or modified to meet the needs of other hospitals interested in improving diabetes management.
Disciplines
Nursing
Recommended Citation
Lezcano, Emily, "Improving Timing of Capillary Blood Glucose Monitoring and Insulin Administration through Patient Education" (2020). Honors Projects. 53.
https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/nursing_honproj/53