Training in Insulin Injection

[Jellybean1609]

Hi, I was wondering how I could get insulin injection training? My friends son has been recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and today her other son has had to go into hospital with severe tonsilitis and so I have her diabetic son overnight. She's obviously administered his overnight injection so now we just have to check his blood sugar and insulin levels through the night but i can't help thinking that if i had training in the administration of his insulin she wouldn't have to worry about coming back and forth from the hospital to give him his injections. In an emergency it would be good to know how to give him the right insulin correctly. I live in the worksop area - can you point me to somewhere I could get training? She's offered to show me how to do it myself but I don't want her son to be my 'practice'

 

[Jaylee]

Hi,

I wouldn't want her son to be your "practice" either..?!?!!

How old is the lad??

 

[donnellysdogs]

I'm sure you could get shown by the DSN and it is good forward thinking.

However I would say that you should only do this with agreement over phone etc for dosage, correct pen/insulin etc.

An orange is easy to tey on, thats what we used to be given years ago!!



Edited by a mod

 

[Jellybean1609]

He's 8years old, I didn't intend to be glib or blasé about him being practice, I just meant that I wanted professional training rather than being shown by his mum - apologies if I offended x

 

[Jaylee]

He's 8years old, I didn't intend to be glib or blasé about him being practice, I just meant that I wanted professional training rather than being shown by his mum - apologies if I offended x

Is the lad not capable of injecting himself?
I know I was at that age..!

My primary concern is two individuals (you & his mum.) giving dosage, feeding, blood testing without communication with eachother? Are you keeping a log of his blood sugar level readings??

By the way. His "mum" will be the only full time "professional" the lad will get. If he's not doing it himself?.

 

[col101]

The nurse at my GP surgery does this sort of training safely and hygienically might be worth asking your surgery?

 

[azure]

He's 8years old, I didn't intend to be glib or blasé about him being practice, I just meant that I wanted professional training rather than being shown by his mum - apologies if I offended x

I'm sure we knew you weren't being glib

Giving injections isn't hard, it's more the carb counting and dose calculating that's the tricky thing if you're not used to it.

 

[catapillar]

Hi, I was wondering how I could get insulin injection training? My friends son has been recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and today her other son has had to go into hospital with severe tonsilitis and so I have her diabetic son overnight. She's obviously administered his overnight injection so now we just have to check his blood sugar and insulin levels through the night but i can't help thinking that if i had training in the administration of his insulin she wouldn't have to worry about coming back and forth from the hospital to give him his injections. In an emergency it would be good to know how to give him the right insulin correctly. I live in the worksop area - can you point me to somewhere I could get training? She's offered to show me how to do it myself but I don't want her son to be my 'practice'

Someone posted a video on here on how to do an insulin injection - http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...ing-video-for-all-levels.113049/#post-1331849

You don't need professional training to do an insulin injection, it's a sub cutaneous injection. There's nothing technical or complicated about it. You stick the needle in the skin. The end.

It's highly unlikely that this child is ever going to need an emergency shot of insulin. It's much more likely that the "emergency" scenario would be treating a hypo. Have you been given guidance on hypo treatments? You should never give someone insulin without first checking what their blood sugar is and then you need to use their correction factor to work out the appropriate dose, if insulin is required according to their blood sugar reading.

 

[Jaylee]

I'm sure we knew you weren't being glib

Giving injections isn't hard, it's more the carb counting and dose calculating that's the tricky thing if you're not used to it.

That's not to mention the kid's recently diagnosed. So my guess is a "honeymoon" phase will need a watchful eye on too...!
Hats off to @Jellybean1609 for taking the kid in for the night.
However...
The only "appropriate" practical advice to be given in this scenario. Is stay in close contact with his mum regarding how he's doing BS wise... We all got phones these days!

 

[Jellybean1609]

I'm sure you could get shown by the DSN and it is good forward thinking.

What's a DSN? And how would I go about contacting them? His mum has shown me how we measure out the correct dose dependant on the carbs he's eaten at his meals and the injector works out the units of insulin for him, that part I'm not too worried about, it's simple enough to learn but i want to learn how to properly inject him so that I don't hurt him and so that he can enjoy sleepovers and meals with us like the rest of my children's friends

 

[Jellybean1609]

Is the lad not capable of injecting himself?
I know I was at that age..!

My primary concern is two individuals (you & his mum.) giving dosage, feeding, blood testing without communication with eachother? Are you keeping a log of his blood sugar level readings??

By the way. His "mum" will be the only full time "professional" the lad will get. If he's not doing it himself?.

Just to be clear his mum is in complete control of his care, I have not administered any injections or done anything regarding his diet. He checks his blood sugars himself and I text his mum and then she comes back to inject him - the reason I wanted training was so that she could leave me with his insulin kit and I could do it for him in an emergency situation like the one that occurred last night that meant he stayed at my house. I also don't want to sound like I'm saying tuition from his mum isn't good enough - it's like learning CPR from someone who knows how to do it or going to a full first aid course - the training would cover everything in the way that she was taught it for her son.

 

[Jellybean1609]

The nurse at my GP surgery does this sort of training safely and hygienically might be worth asking your surgery?

Thanks, I was thinking I'd call mine, if they don't do it they will know what direction to point me in

 

[Jellybean1609]

That's not to mention the kid's recently diagnosed. So my guess is a "honeymoon" phase will need a watchful eye on too...!
Hats off to @Jellybean1609 for taking the kid in for the night.
However...
The only "appropriate" practical advice to be given in this scenario. Is stay in close contact with his mum regarding how he's doing BS wise... We all got phones these days!

I had him check his BS at 10pm and 3pm through the night and text his mum - thankfully they were at a level both times when he didn't need an injection

 

[Jellybean1609]

Someone posted a video on here on how to do an insulin injection - http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/thr...ing-video-for-all-levels.113049/#post-1331849

You don't need professional training to do an insulin injection, it's a sub cutaneous injection. There's nothing technical or complicated about it. You stick the needle in the skin. The end.

It's highly unlikely that this child is ever going to need an emergency shot of insulin. It's much more likely that the "emergency" scenario would be treating a hypo. Have you been given guidance on hypo treatments? You should never give someone insulin without first checking what their blood sugar is and then you need to use their correction factor to work out the appropriate dose, if insulin is required according to their blood sugar reading.

Thanks very much for the link to the video, I really appreciate that. His mum has shown me how to do the calculations for the insulin on his little machine - I was told to look for him being really emotional and dark circles under his eyes in the event of a hypo but the poor love was upset about his baby brother being poorly anyway

 

[catapillar]

Thanks very much for the link to the video, I really appreciate that. His mum has shown me how to do the calculations for the insulin on his little machine - I was told to look for him being really emotional and dark circles under his eyes in the event of a hypo but the poor love was upset about his baby brother being poorly anyway

So did you ask him to test his blood sugar when he was displaying those symptoms? You do know you don't inject insulin to treat a hypo don't you? You treat a hypo by eating fast acting glucose - dextrose tablets or fruit juice.

I'm sure at 8 he's probably perfectly capable of doing his own injections. But if mum would rather do them, then there's no big deal about having to wait for mum to get there to do the injection. Again, he's not going to need an "emergency" insulin injection. That's not really a thing.

 

[Jaylee]

I had him check his BS at 10pm and 3pm through the night and text his mum - thankfully they were at a level both times when he didn't need an injection

.... & what level was that? (On both occaisions.)

Yes, "emotional" & confusion can be symptoms of hypoglycemia.. But understand. Insulin is not a cure in the case of a hypo.. Sugar is!
Followed up by longer acting carbs like a digestive biscuit..

We're just looking out for the lad in the absence of his mum...

 

[azure]

Just to be clear his mum is in complete control of his care, I have not administered any injections or done anything regarding his diet. He checks his blood sugars himself and I text his mum and then she comes back to inject him - the reason I wanted training was so that she could leave me with his insulin kit and I could do it for him in an emergency situation like the one that occurred last night that meant he stayed at my house. I also don't want to sound like I'm saying tuition from his mum isn't good enough - it's like learning CPR from someone who knows how to do it or going to a full first aid course - the training would cover everything in the way that she was taught it for her son.

Seriously, giving an injection is simple. As I said, it's the understanding about diabetes that's hard.

I can't see any reason why his mum couldn't show you how to do an injection, if she's happy to do that. As @catapillar said, it's only a subcutaneous injection so you're not having to aim for anywhere special. I'm sure you're aware of basic hygiene so I can't think that any professional demonstration would be necessary. It really is easy - the actual technique.

Here's some information on hypiglycaemia for you. That's the immediate risk and it needs glucose NOT insulin:

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/diabetes-and-hypoglycaemia.html

So there's unlikely to be any situation when he needs an emergency injection. For a hypo, you're looking to give him something sweet to get his blood sugar up into the normal range and then follow that up with some longer acting carbs like bread, etc.

My advice is to test lots as the change in situation may affect his blood sugars.

 

[noblehead]

the reason I wanted training was so that she could leave me with his insulin kit and I could do it for him in an emergency situation like the one that occurred last night that meant he stayed at my house.

If the mother gives consent and speaks with their child's PDSN (paediatric diabetes specialist nurse) they may be able to provide the relevant training, PDSN's provide the training to teaching staff in schools when a child is newly diagnosed and is unable to administer the injections themselves.

However I expect in the coming weeks/months the boy will be taught to inject insulin himself (being 8 years old) so the training might not be necessary.

 

[Jellybean1609]

.... & what level was that? (On both occaisions.)

Yes, "emotional" & confusion can be symptoms of hypoglycemia.. But understand. Insulin is not a cure in the case of a hypo.. Sugar is!
Followed up by longer acting carbs like a digestive biscuit..

We're just looking out for the lad in the absence of his mum...

I appreciate you looking out for him, I'm literally learning all of this stuff in the last few days. He's back home with his mum tonight but last night I sent her his readings and she told me what to do. Again the reason for wanting training is because I understand that I have a lot to learn and my desire to help my little lads best friend can eat here, sleep here and generally be here while knowing what to look out for. It's new to him too so sometimes he doesn't know when he's 'having a hypo' (his mums phrase not mine)

 

[himtoo]

you should talk with the boy's mum and ask her for advice going forward -- if she wishes she can surely get you a session with the son's DSN for guidance. on injecting , testing , and treating