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It is estimated that over 500 000 people in Finland have diabetes. It is a disease where the amount of glucose in plasma is elevated. The aim of the treatment is to avoid complications caused by either hyperglycemia with any diabetic patient or hypoglycemia with patients that use medication that lower blood glucose. (1.) Ordinary blood glucose meter, which measures the blood glucose from capillary blood taken from tip of the finger, is a common way to monitor person’s blood glucose. These meters are used in all health care areas from emergency rooms to home self-monitoring and in multiple other health care settings (2). Blood glucose meters must be the first few medical devices nursing students get to use from early on in the studies and in summer jobs in the health care field. Also as said earlier, it is a widely used device which surely will be familiar to us also later as Registered Nurses despite where we work. We thought/ think understanding how blood glucose meters work, what some possible issues are regarding safety and usability measuring, one can provide safe care and correct treatment. As there are several different brands of meters on the market we randomly chose one, Bayer’s Contour Next, to use as an example.
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