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Insulin And Carbohydrates

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Carbohydrates turn into glucose, or sugar, after they are digested in your body. This is needed for your body to have energy or to be stored for a later use. However, the glucose cannot go directly into your cells. This is where insulin comes in.
Insulin is a hormone that is made by the pancreas. It is disbursed after you eat and glucose is detected in your blood stream. The insulin attaches itself to your body’s cells and signals for them to absorb the sugar. From there, it decreases your body’s blood sugar.
In some cases, insulin is not disbursed from the pancreas. This means that the body will have an excessive amount of sugar in its blood (hyperglycemia). This is when an insulin injection may need to be given. Based on what the sugar …show more content…

When a patient is experiencing hyperglycemia and they are given the wrong dosage of insulin, some serious symptoms can occur: depressed moods, dizziness, drowsiness, nausea, slurred speech, seizures, and even a coma. If a large enough dose of insulin is given, it could result in death. The reason being is because the patient will suffer from hypoglycemia.
There are several circumstances where the wrong insulin dosage could be given: negligence, miscommunication, vision problems and so on. Another circumstance that comes to mind is if the nurse were to be under the influence of drugs. In the show Nurse Jackie, just that happens. Nurse Jackie was an emergency room registered nurse. She also had an opiate addiction. She often treated patients while under the influence. In this certain scene of episode 11, season 6, Doctor Carrie delegated Jackie to give a patient in the ED 8 units of insulin. This particular patient was experiencing hyperglycemia and was extremely shaky and not able to concentrate. Jackie, being under the influence, mishears Carrie and administers 800 units of insulin to the patient. The patient immediately goes into shock. Zoey, another ED nurse, quickly counteracts the insulin and injects glucose into the patient. The patient regains consciousness quickly. If Zoey had not been there, the patient would have had a different outcome. Jackie tries to explain to Zoey that it was Carries fault and she told her the wrong dose of 800 units. Zoey and Jackie are friends so neither notifies the patient, nor their charge nurse about the situation that just

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