When drawing up two types of insulin (regular and NPH) in one syringe, which procedure is correct?

When drawing up two types of insulin (regular and NPH) in one syringe, which procedure is correct?

• A. Draw up the insulins in two separate syringes to avoid confusion.
• B. Draw up the regular insulin before drawing up the NPH insulin.
• C. Inject air into the NPH insulin, draw it up to 35 U, then inject air into the clear regular insulin and withdraw to 45 U.
• D. Inject 35 U air into the NPH insulin, inject 10 U air into the regular insulin, withdraw 10 U of the regular insulin, and withdraw 35 U of the NPH insulin.

Answer: (D)

When drawing two types of insulin into one syringe, use the air-in, air-out method and pull the clear insulin first, then the cloudy insulin. This keeps the clear insulin uncontaminated by the cloudy one and ensures the correct doses are in the syringe. For the given amounts (10 units of regular, 35 units of NPH), you first inject air into the vial you will draw from last (NPH), then inject air into the vial you will draw first (regular). Then withdraw the regular insulin (10 units) and finally withdraw the NPH insulin (35 units). The syringe ends up with 10 units of regular followed by 35 units of NPH. Two syringes would avoid mixing in one syringe, which isn’t what the question asks. Drawing the regular after the NPH or using the incorrect sequence would risk contamination and dosing errors, so the step that draws the clear insulin first, then the cloudy, with the specified air-in angles, is the correct approach.

When drawing two types of insulin into one syringe, use the air-in, air-out method and pull the clear insulin first, then the cloudy insulin. This keeps the clear insulin uncontaminated by the cloudy one and ensures the correct doses are in the syringe.

For the given amounts (10 units of regular, 35 units of NPH), you first inject air into the vial you will draw from last (NPH), then inject air into the vial you will draw first (regular). Then withdraw the regular insulin (10 units) and finally withdraw the NPH insulin (35 units). The syringe ends up with 10 units of regular followed by 35 units of NPH.

Two syringes would avoid mixing in one syringe, which isn’t what the question asks. Drawing the regular after the NPH or using the incorrect sequence would risk contamination and dosing errors, so the step that draws the clear insulin first, then the cloudy, with the specified air-in angles, is the correct approach.