Tiina Jansson and Tiina Kupiainen
Introduction
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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 We think that understanding how blood glucose meters work , and knowing what some possible issues are regarding their 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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In some meters, there are enzymes in blood test strip which react with the glucose that is found from the patient’s blood sample. Enzymes react with the sample and can either change the color and indicate the amount of glucose in the sample or form electric current that enables the meter to read the result. (2.) The Contour XT blood glucose meter measures the electrical charge between reactants from blood’s glucose and the electrodes on the test strip (3).
Usability and
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safety
Nurses and other health care professionals need to understand that care must be taken when measuring blood glucose. The most common place to lancet the skin is on the finger tips, specifically on the side of the fingertip. Sometimes other areas such as arm or thumb side of the palm may be used. It should be noted, that low glucose measures can only be detected on the blood from the fingertips. Blood sample is to be taken from clean and warm hands on a place where skin is intact and healthy. After puncturing, the first drop of blood should be wiped away and the next drop used for measuringto avoid possible little contaminants from disrupting the measuring process. Milking the finger or trying to push blood out is bad practice as it may result in interstitial fluid in the sample, which can cause false readings. (4.)
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