mismanagement of diabetes in hospital

[wiley6coyote]

I am appalled at the lack of knowledge surronding care of long term diabetics when admitted to hospital for conditions unrelated ie. heart attack. A friend of mine almost died this week because his BS was allowed to drop to 1.3( canadian ) !!!! not once but 4 times in the span of a week. Long standing insulin doses which these people/or their families have been using/adjusting all their lives are thrown out the window and the hospital staff change up everything including diets etc. CBS are not monitored properly - my friend's wife asked that staff check his CBS when she was there and was told " its not ordered to be checked until 4 hours later". I have also witnessed a hypoglycemic situation being treated with 2 PB &J sandwiches, 2 OJ's with 2 pkg sugar and a banana- so that the patients' BS was then over 27!! How scary is this? These are registered staff - who were supposedly educated or at the very least should have policies and procedures set. What to do??? Family have to almost stay in the hospital and take over this aspect of care.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

What you observed wiley is a common occurence that threatens the health of many diabetics and even kills some while they are in the hospital.

The lack of knowledge many healthcare workers have about diabetes is shockingly inadequate, outdated, and often completely wrong. Diabetes is different than most diseases because patients dose their own medication and also learn how their blood sugar is affected by different variables, so the patients quickly becomes an expert in their own disease. Some physicians and nurses are threatened by that.

In my own experience, when I was in the hospital a few years ago to give birth (after having a healthy pregnancy and a 5.1 A1c with no lows), my OBGYN promised he would put in my chart that I could test using my own meter and administer my own insulin, but failed to do so. The nurses had orders to give insulin as prescribed. There were times when I had to refuse because I knew it would cause a severe low and instead of just calling the doctor and charting it, on 2 occasions the nurses told me I was a terrible mother and non-compiant diabetic! I was not non-compliant, I just was not willing to put myself into hypoglycemia in order to to do what someone had charted. And I was right each time.

Just as I should have been. After all, I've had type 1 diabetes for 36 years, which in effect means I have 314,496 "clinical hours" managing it. I have been blessed to have expert doctors (Donnel Etzweiler from Park Nicolett and later Peter Chase from the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes) and am a reasonably intelligent person. But I have repeatedly been treated like I am either uneducated or non-compliant anytime I have questioned the advice of a medical professional, whether in the hospital or anywhere else.

My experience is not unique.

Now I know there are non-compliant patients or those who are working off bad information (the other day my dad-in-law who has type 2 told me his endo told him to eat bananas, but I said he should double check because they're so carb heavy). But the truth is if you take a minute to hear what the patient is saying, you can usually weed out those who are concerned for their health and are trying to share valuable information they know about their disease and those who just don't want to take a shot.

The staff who told you you were a terrible mother should be strung up. hope you reported them for their unethical behavior and ignorance.