you’re a new resident (house officer). at 2:00 am, you receive a phone call about a patient you are covering who has diabetes. the patient has an elevated blood sugar of 375. you order 12 units of novolog (rapid-acting) insulin and ask the nurse to check the sugar again in one hour and call you back. one hour later, the sugar is 280, so you order another 10 units. by 4:00 am, the patient’s sugar is dangerously low at 45. you realize that novolog insulin takes two to three hours to reach peak effect. by rechecking the patient’s glucose after only one hour and giving more insulin so quickly, you set the patient up for an episode of hypoglycemia. why is it important to communicate with the patient about this event?
