Across the globe millions of people suffer from diabetes; this population of people requires insulin which they have to access on a frequent basis. Regardless of their access to the medication, they require a proper way in which the medication is provided to them. In adults diabetes is less sensitive as compared to children. Adults have the ability to administer drugs and keep up with the medication timetable with great ease (Mertig, 2012). However, researches have shown that adults also have shortcomings when it comes to administer of diabetes medication. For diabetes patients, they must access an injection of insulin in any case of rising or falling blood sugar levels. This can be done in medical institutions by well trained physicians. With time, an individual is trained on how well to administer these injections. From this point it becomes a personal responsibility to administer the medication. Adults have the same fear as children to inject themselves with insulin at the first stages. The only difference comes from the fact that adults adapt fast to these changes than children. Regardless to this factor, medical analyst has argued that there should be a proper way in which insulin is injected in to adults. This is a concern raised to both the patients involved. The injection of insulin is done in the wrong way by both the patients and medical physicians at greater percentages. The survey also highlights the fact that many medical physicians and nurses have no basic knowledge to deal with the significant complications that patients may have and require insulin injections. Such complications include complications on the skin of the patient. It should be a usual fact for nurses to know how to select the length of the needle, the insulin injection process, swabbing skin before the injection, recycling insulin needles for the pen system and disposal of needles. This information should be passed effectively to adult patients who have the ability to learn fast and effectively.
Length of the needle
Every diabetic patient has specific needs that require to be fulfilled by their medical instructor. This can only be done through the right injection technique and the correct needle size. It is the perfect combination of these two factors that will ensure the correct depth at which insulin is administered to the subcutaneous adipose tissue (Chiu, et.al, 2007). The length of the needle is greatly determined by gender of the patient, medical assessment of the adipose tissue thickness, angle of injection, injection site and technique when the skin is or is not lifted.
With recent findings and technology medical practitioners have formulated shorter needles that are more efficient than the former used long needle. Previously to this discovery, the 12.7 mm needle was frequently used and prescribed to patients (Chiu, et.al, 2007). Medical finding in the modernized century have associated the long needle with higher risks of intramuscular injections. To prove this by survey, 7 percent of overweight diabetic patients hit a muscle with a 12 mm needle. On the normal weight diabetic patients, 28 percent hit a muscle with the 12 mm needle (Jabbour & Stephens, 2007). This is an indication of how much risky it has been to diabetic patients to use the lengthy needles. From this finding, nurses and medical institutions are greatly advised to stop the use of lengthy needle when it comes to the injection of insulin. However, the now recommended 8 mm needle is much more efficient and has reduced risk of hitting a muscle. Regardless of the minimal length, nurses are advised to show a patient how to effectively fold their skin during injection.
The insulin injection process
On this factor nurse and medical practitioners should be well equipped information of the best location to inject insulin, rotation of the injection sites within the same anatomical area, injection without a skin fold, injection with a skin fold, injection on the hip and abdomen while applying the fold and when not applying the fold and the angle of injection. In adults the most important factor in the injection of insulin should be the location of the optimum injection site for premixed insulin (Jabbour & Stephens, 2007). The authors further argue that this factor is mostly sensitized to diabetic based medics since it enables faster, easier and the most effective administering of insulin. In choosing the best site for the injection of insulin, the proximity of the skin to the muscle is the most significant factor. In adults, there is a shorter proximity between the skin and the muscles as compared to children. Children have less developed and build muscles which make their body parts easy recipients of injection. The scenario changes when it comes to adults. On the adult body there are well build muscles that shorten the distance between them and the skin. It is for this reason that some body parts like the upper arm are not advisable when considering insulin injection sites. The same thoughts are reiterated by Sinclair (2009) who also argues that medical practitioners should well educate adults on optimum sites to inject insulin and how to avoid muscular parts of the body like the upper arm. The author further argues that, even if an adult patient uses an 8 mm needle while injecting insulin on the upper arm there is a 48 % would hit a muscle. While using the 12 mm needle the probability greatly rises to 88 % even when using a folded skin (Jabbour & Stephens, 2007)
The optimum injection site for premixed insulin should be the abdomen. This site is mostly used for emergencies and when is insulin I needed to take fast effects. When premixed insulin is being used on a patient, the most probable site for this injection would be on the abdomen and in the morning hours. The same sentiments are supported by 40 diabetic experts highlighted by Sinclair (2009). For slower effects of insulin, the thigh is the most preferable site for the injection. The thigh is also the most preferable site for premixed insulin when injected during the night. For this case nurses are advised to provide this preferences to patients since it may be difficult to memorize the most appropriate time and different location to inject premixed insulin.
References
Chiu, H. K. et al. (2007). "Equivalent insulin resistance in latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) and type 2 diabetic patients". Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice 77 (2): 237–44
Jabbour, S. & Stephens, E. (2007). Type 1 Diabetes in Adults: Principles and Practice. New York: Taylor & Francis
Mertig, R. (2012). Nurses' Guide to Teaching Diabetes Self-Management .New York: Springer Publishing Company
Sinclair, A. (2009). Diabetes in old age. New York: Taylor & Francis
