Guest Blog - Richard Copeland & Graeme Richardson Blog about Diabetes Workshop

The LPC put on a practical Diabetes workshop for Pharmacists.  LPN Chair, Richard Copeland and Chief Pharmacist, South Tyneside Hopsital Graeme Richardson attended the event alongside a packed room of local pharmacists and staff.

They have summarised the training in a useful blog below.  Make sure you follow us on twitter, facebook or join our mailing list to be informed of future training sessions.


Diabetes Workshop 

The training covered the importance of appropriate needle length, the human skin is on average only 2mm thick and in most cases a needle length of 4mm will be sufficient to deposit the insulin in the subcutaneous tissue.  Using too long a needle without pinching (or a poor pinching technique) can mean that the insulin is injected into muscle which is painful and gives an unpredictable and rapid release.  Additionally injection sites must be rotated to prevent the development of lipohypertrophy (lumps in the subcutaneous layer), this can be due to habit or the fact that injecting into the same area is often less painful.  However injecting into such areas causes unpredictable reduced and delayed release of the insulin, and often doses injected become elevated to counter these issues.   Pharmacists undertaking medication review should take the opportunity to examine injection sites for lipohypertrophy, particularly when injection sites have not been moved. In this case, it would be practical to recommend a reduction in dosage of approximately 30%, with re-checking of blood glucose, and follow-up appointment with the diabetes specialist nurse.

The talk was very useful, and having a personal family member with diabetes I found some of the tips and real life examples of patients helped me to not only consider my knowledge professionally but also personally as I discussed dosing and needle length with with my family.  An excellent session.

Graeme Richardson & Richard Copeland

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