Glucose Monitoring and treatment time

[Ared1]

I'm wondering if your facility has a policy on the time between taking a BG reading and treating it. At my former employer, you take a reading a treat within the hour. Where I currently work, night shift takes the BG reading at 4:00 AM and day shift treats that reading sometime after 6:30 AM. My supervisor has not brought me the policy and procedure manual so I haven't been able to see if we have a specific policy. I think waiting 2+ hours and treating is too long. If you have access to post a copy of that policy I would love to see it so I can take a copy to my supervisor.

Thanks, Anna

[CelticGoddess, BSN, RN]

You should have access to the policy and procedure policy. Is it on their website? Every facility is different. At my facility, FSBS aren't done in the AM until 7am to 7:30 am and no insulin is given until the trays arrive on the floor. But, like I said, that is my facility. I worked at another facility that had a different policy. And at the nursing home, it was different than both.

I would make sure you have a copy of the policy and procedures available to you asap.

[AceOfHearts<3]

I can only imagine how happy patients are to be woken up at 4am to have their sugars checked. Our aides start getting the morning readings around 7:30. They tend to start 45-30 minutes before meals depending on how busy they are and how many patients need their blood sugar checked (sometimes we have 1-2 and sometime 10+).

[cardiacfreak, ADN]

For ACHS checks, we check blood glucose when the patient orders the meal and then insulin is administered within 15 minutes of patient receiving the meal. HS glucose is done when the HS meds are passed, and we have an hour to treat or we must recheck.

I would be asking the supervisor for a copy of the policy daily and I would recheck blood glucose before administering any insulin.