Question

How do you read a sliding scale for an insulin order?

When do you give orange juice for hypoglycemia vs glucagon?

Answer 1

The sliding scale is used by the healthcare workers or the patent himself to manage the insulin dosage according to the level of blood glucose at different times of day.

The sliding scale consists of the fasting blood glucose level values, the meal time and insulin dose. The blood glucose values are written at left side of the chart vertically. The meal time is mentioned in the top row of chart. Below the meal time is mentioned the dose of insulin according to the blood glucose level from top to bottom.

To read the chart, first blood glucose is tested than the meal time is checked. This is followed by checking the insulin dose given for a particular meal time according to the blood glucose results obtained by blood glucose testing.

Hypoglycaemia is considered to start when the blood glucose levels fall below 70mg/dl. The symptoms include sweating, dizziness, nausea, weakness. When hypoglycaemia sets in the doctor advises to consume glucose or sugar that will help bring the blood glucose levels to normal. Orange juice can be given to the patient when hypoglycaemia sets in. This will help bring the blood glucose back to normal in 5-10 minutes. But sometimes the patient may loose consciousness or become uncooperative or may not be able to swallow. During such time glucagon is injected which increases blood glucose level