Low blood sugar teaching for a client new to insulin
IENCAP OSCE practice station

The task

You are the nurse in a diabetes education clinic in Ontario. Leila Haddad, aged 67, has type 2 diabetes. Her doctor started once-daily basal insulin last week and she has come with her glucose meter. A relative has driven her and is in the waiting room. Introduce yourself and check what she already knows. Teach her about low blood sugar: how to recognize it, what to do at home, and when to seek help. Check her understanding. Record what you taught and her response.

What this station tests

• Ask about symptoms before teaching: a night-time episode changes the plan.
• Teach 15 g of fast sugar, recheck in 15 minutes, and repeat if still below 4.0 mmol/L, in plain words.
• Link teaching to the client's life: skipped meals, driving, living situation.
• Use teach-back to check understanding rather than asking if she understands.
• Report episodes to the prescriber and give written information.

Sources for the clinical content

• Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines: Hypoglycemia
• Diabetes Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines: Diabetes and Driving

An original practice scenario with invented patients. Not an exam question.

Practise next

• Discharge teaching for a client with heart failure