Glucometer to use on multiple patients

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hi All,

I need to get a glucometer to use in a research study on multiple participants. I have 2 questions:

1. What glucometer do you like?

2. what single use disposable lancets do you like?

Your help is very much appreciated.

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Sure.

We are looking at whether an exercise intervention combined with a nutritional supplement increase proliferation of stem cells in healthy adults age 50 to 70. As part of our screening we need to check glucose levels because diabetics are not allowed to participate.

Thanks blondy. I will try those lancets.

And Morte and brandy and others I appreciate your comments. While I am aware of infection risk I do not work in acute or long term care so any tips and info are much appreciated. In research you only have one chance to get it right or the whole study is screwed. Makes you very humble.......:roflmao:

probably, you know this, but, be sure to clean the skin (especially if using fingertips) very well, to remove any traces of any sugars remaining on the fingertips after eating, say, a gooey sugary coated donut. Not a bad idea, if you can, to have each person wash their hands in WARM water prior, to clean the skin, and, to improve your chances of good capillary blood flow in their hands.(IF you are using hands).

Specializes in Trauma-Surgical, Case Management, Clinic.

I work in research per diem and we do CBC and bmp when screening pts. Could you monitor their glucose that way and save by not doing point of care? Just wondering if this may be an option for you.

remember the meter must be thoroughly cleaned with bleach cont. cleaner between patients and allowed to air dry.....

If the meter never touches a patient, not true. If you have blood on the test strips and insert them into the meter for reading (depends on the model) there is never an opportunity for cross-contamination. You're not touching the meter to the patient(s). The risk of cross-contamination comes if you use a little spring-driven lancet holder thingie that can carry blood from one patient to another even if you change the lancet itself.

Why not just use those little cheapo manual lancets, the blue ones with the twist-off round point covers, and be done with it? No cross-contamination possible.

Thanks blondy. I will try those lancets.

And Morte and brandy and others I appreciate your comments. While I am aware of infection risk I do not work in acute or long term care so any tips and info are much appreciated. In research you only have one chance to get it right or the whole study is screwed. Makes you very humble.......:roflmao:

CDC - Blood Glucose Monitoring - Injection Safety

Makes sense, but state policy in LTC requires it. If you put the meter down on a questionable surface, etc.

If the meter never touches a patient, not true. If you have blood on the test strips and insert them into the meter for reading (depends on the model) there is never an opportunity for cross-contamination. You're not touching the meter to the patient(s). The risk of cross-contamination comes if you use a little spring-driven lancet holder thingie that can carry blood from one patient to another even if you change the lancet itself.

Why not just use those little cheapo manual lancets, the blue ones with the twist-off round point covers, and be done with it? No cross-contamination possible.

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Thanks very much all. I appreciate all your suggestions. I do have the CDC guidance on proper glucometer cleaning. No worries.

I ended up with a Breeze2 since our pharmacy dept had some freebies. I bought the lancets someone advised as being new and very comfortable for patients. A little pricey, but this is research and we want to make the process as easy as possible within reasonable cost constraints.

All comments very much appreciated!

So, I'm a former biochemist now nursing student (long story, naturally) and what I've seen with the CBG readers (as CNA in the hospital) is that they have a pretty big error margin, sometime 30 points or more difference on different hands or comparing before someone washed their hands and after. If it's something you'll have to graph or find a stdev on, you may want to take a few reading from a single poke with a longer lancet. The hopital I'm at school at uses single use lancets with a purple cap and an adjustable lancet; I'm sorry I don't know the brand. Good luck!

This is probably moot since you've already gotten hold of the supplies, but doing a blood glucose on someone tells you very little about their overall diabetic/non-diabetic status. You can get a reading of 60 on someone who will register 260 after a meal.

For more dependable information I would do hA1c tests on subjects. That would give you a much more accurate result.

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Very good points. However, since this is a pilot study we are going to have to go with the easiest screening approach. If we end up expanding the study after the pilot i will definitely suggest the A1C route.

Very good points. However, since this is a pilot study we are going to have to go with the easiest screening approach. If we end up expanding the study after the pilot i will definitely suggest the A1C route.

But.... if you really want to be sure you've excluded diabetics, and you don't really exclude them, your pilot results may be unreliable, and then what? Want to defend that to your committee? ::shudder::

Do the A1c.

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