Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Blood glucose control in insulin-dependent diabetes is heavily influenced by compliance, and how insulin is administered, which is emphasised to those with diabetes. However, when a patient is admitted to hospital, the administration of insulin is often by a nurse. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the knowledge of nurses around this subject, and to identify if there was a need for further training.

Method: We conducted a prospective audit with questionnaires, which were distributed among nursing staff from varying specialties and backgrounds, over a 40-day period in a district general hospital. 136 nurses returned their questionnaire.

Results: We found that within our cohort, more than half learnt about insulin administration from another colleague and had no formal training. The majority recognised of appropriate injection sites, however a small percentage would consider administration in the calf muscle. Around 97% of the nurses were aware to rotate these injection sites, however awareness that areas of lipohypertrophy should be avoided for the appropriate time was answered correctly in approximately quarter of the cohort. Nearly 80% of them had knowledge about the timing that different preparations of insulin should be administered in relation to meals, however fewer percentage were not aware that the preparation before administration of insulin varies, and therefore may prepare insulin incorrectly.

Conclusion: This study suggests that whilst most areas of knowledge about insulin and insulin administration are sound, there are significant gaps, which could have adverse effects on patients. We therefore suggest that all registered nurses have adequate and continued formal education about all aspects of insulin.