Only 5 units of insulin per injection site??

[utah23LPN]

While doing clinicals in the ICU I had the RN tell me that you should not inject more than 5u of insulin per injection site because the body cannot absorb more than that from one location. So for a patient that needs 15 units for example you would inject 5u in upper arm, 5u a few inches lower and 5u a few inches lower-all from the same needle and syringe.

I had never heard this so I asked him if he was taught this in nursing school. He said no but his brother who is an NP at a diabetes clinic teaches it to all his patients. I have scoured the internet for research to back this up but have not come across anything.

Has anyone heard this before? Do you believe its true? Is there research to back it up?

[Zen123]

:chair: i can see the resident now bolting to take off when they see me come with all those shots!

[mazy]

What does she do with Lovenox and heparin? Because I wouldn't want to give twenty separate injections to give a 1ml dose. Two or three times a day.

[AgentBeast, MSN, RN]

They even have u-500 insulin for those folks that might take 200 or more units per injection.

For IM injections I learned it was 1mL into a small muscle such as the deltoid, 3mL into a large muscle like the ventrogluteal.

[redge03]

I just want to state that I hope that nurse never takes care of me! I hate needles- coming at me anyway!

[Ahhphoey]

Wow, never heard of anything like that before.

The scariest part is that this nurse and his NP brother are practicing and teaching vulnerable patients with no medical knowledge and their families this dangerous practice...

[cometnurse]

The nurse who told you this should be following the hospital policy regarding insulin administration, not the suggestion of a family member (whether they are health care providers or not). In twelve years of nursing, I have never heard of this before and if I were the patient, I would probably refuse and take my own insulin instead. And using the same syringe for multiple injections is a direct violation of infection control standards and unaccepatable in any setting. Kudos to you for questioning this idea. I suggest you not take this nurses advise and if he insists, let him give in the injections in an unsafe mannor himself and report this to your instructor/supervisor.

[AgentBeast, MSN, RN]

[GooeyRN, ADN, BSN, CNA, LPN, RN]

That is CRAZY. There is a limit on how many cc's/ml's one can inject at a time, but not units.

[beckster_01, BSN, RN]

^That picture looks so painful

I gave 100 units of 70/30 today...I laughed when I imagined stabbing that poor woman with a needle 20 times.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Yep. And for those who aren't impaling themselves multiple times daily- yeah- you can feel the difference between a new needle or lancet and an "experienced" one

I used to reuse lancets d/t cost issues (lancets aren't THAT expensive, but it all adds up). Now, I use new everything every time.

[Daisy_08, BSN, RN]

I have given 100+u many times. That would be 20+ injections, that is ridiculous. No,l never heard of this before.

I just remembered of one pt who got 90 (ish) of NR(!) and 70 (ish) of lantus QAM. You would run out of injection sites doing it this way

[Twinmom06, ASN, APN]

so how would that work with those of us on a pump - I only change my infusion site every 72 hours or so...and I get 300u (not at once obviously) but that all goes in to one site!