Type 1 diabetes: identifying and evaluating patient injection technique

A diagnosis of type 1 diabetes is life changing, both physically and psychologically. This transformation requires a solid rapport between the patient and the diabetic specialist team to ensure the condition is managed successfully. Nevertheless, all general ward nurses should be aware of issues surrounding insulin administration, and thus participate in opportunistic identification, evaluation and empowerment of such patients when hospitalized. Patients that may be mismanaging their condition, irrespective of the length of diagnosis, would then be identified and referred appropriately to the specialist nurse before unnecessary complications arise. It is, however, evident that such measures are overlooked as a result of other constraints. This article explores how the ward is an ideal environment for identifying and evaluating the practical, physical and psychological components of patient insulin administration, through a direct observational approach. Discussion surrounding contributory barriers pertaining to its neglect, proactive implications for practice that potentially could overcome such issues, along with the underpinning pathophysiology, are addressed. Nurses will thus gain a greater perspective concerning the significance of routinely evaluating the competencies of patients' insulin administration within the ward environment.