DKA versus HHNK

Nurses General Nursing

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I am an RN and also a fill-in paramedic student instructor. I am working on a lesson regarding diabetes and recognizing DKA versus HHNK. I am must curious as to how high you have seen blood glucose get while a pt is in HHNK. I remember seeing 1100 once. I thought it would be cool if I could help the students better relate at just how high a blood glucose can get. How high have you seen a blood glucose?

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Specializes in Flight, ER, Transport, ICU/Critical Care.

:eek:

2600

I recall a few over 2000 and several in the upper 1500's +

But - I have seen the sickest of the sick at times, so...

Good Luck with you lesson development, it is an interesting (and important) subject for students to master.

:angel:

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I just took an NCLEX review course and the teacher said she saw a 12 yr old kid come to the ER in HHNK with a glucose of 2400

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I think a more important consideration should be the emphasis on the pathophysiology between the two conditions. A fair amount of confusion about these two problems exist and focusing on the differences should be a key component of any lecture. While massive elevations in blood glucose can produce a "wow" factor, emphasis on the how and why along with assessment and treatment modalities should be the primary emphasis.

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