Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects up to 15% of the nation (Reid, 2012). Insulin administration is often a treatment for diabetes. Nurses are the primary administers of insulin in long term and acute settings. The policies that many hospitals have in regards administration is one that the chosen facility does not. There is not a double check system before administering insulin to a patient. One nurse is responsible for drawing it from the vial and administering insulin to the patient. This insulin administration policy needs to be changed for the safety of patients. The current policy is that one nurse is able to administer insulin without a double check from another nurse. The proposed change would be to have a second nurse verify…show more content… Fewer errors would lead to greater patient safety and trust. A change in policy could help to ensure patient safety and patient rights. Nurses take the oath to "do no harm". By ensuring correct insulin administration with verification by two nurses, the practice of "do no harm" is evident. There are many nursing associations that could help me change the policy, as patient safety is emphasized. Associations that could aid the proposed change is the Kansas State Board of nursing. My proposal to make double checking insulin a protocol could be endorsed by them. The plan would be to collect data from the facility before presenting it to the board. Insulin administration safety is important. Errors with this type of medication can have harmful, even deadly outcomes for the patient. Health can be compromised and costs can add up for treatment to correct wrongly administered insulin. By implementing a double check policy, insulin errors would decrease. Verification of insulin by two nurses would help to ensure patient safety as well as decrease costs of adverse events. Double check insulin policies should be implemented for these
