Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 March 2010 20:30

Doing injections. Pretty soon it’s easy peasy.

Injecting insulin sounds scary. In fact, it’s far easier than you think. Almost all children with diabetes use an insulin pen to inject.

Some pens use a replaceable cartridge full of insulin. These pens are re-usable. When the insulin cartridge runs out, you replace it.

Other pens come with insulin already inside. Once empty, they’re thrown away. You then get a new one.

Each time you use a pen, you must attach a small needle that works with your whizzy pen.

Using either type of pen is really easy – your nurse will show you how. Each pen comes with instructions, so have a read of them.

The small needles should only be used once. Remember to attach a fresh one everytime you inject.

Using a pen 

1. Pull off the cap of the pen. If your pen needs a cartridge, remove the cartridge holder from the pen body. Put an insulin cartridge into the holder. Reattach the holder to the pen body.

 

2. If the insulin is cloudy, gently tip the pen 10 times and roll it between the palms of your hands 10 times to mix it.

 

 

 3. Screw on a NEW needle before each injection. Remove the outer cap of the needle, then the inner cap.

 

 

4. Before each injection, check the pen is working. Set the dial to 2. With the pen pointing upwards slowly press the button. A tiny bead of insulin should appear at the needle tip, if not, dial and press the button again until you see it.

 

5. Set the dose that your nurse has told you.

 

 

 

6. With your pen prepared for your injection, push the needle all the way into the skin and inject your insulin. Hold down the button for at least 10 seconds after the dial has returned to zero to make sure you get all the insulin you need. Take out the needle slowly. When you’ve finished, carefully remove the needle and put it in the special container, as shown by your nurse.

Be safe and tidy with used needles! After step 6

Used needles can accidentally harm someone. Your nurse will give you a special container to put them in. It’s called a sharps box. When it’s full, give it to your parents, they will know what to do with it. You can also ask your nurse for a little tool that clips off and stores the needle end. It’s called a BD Safe-Clip^TM.

No watch? No problem!

10 seconds is the time it takes to say “one elephant, two elephant, three elephant” and so on until you reach 10 elephants.

Using a syringe

If you’ve been told to use a syringe, follow the instructions given by your nurse.

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The information in this section has kindly been provided by BD Medical. You may want to get a copy of this booklet to keep and refer to from time to time. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it