Diabetes Care: Glucose and Insulin Flashcards
7 cards from real LPN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Diabetes Care: Glucose and Insulin flashcards as text
A patient on insulin therapy reports eating extra food to prevent hypoglycemia. What is the most important education point the nurse should address?
Answer: Extra food raises blood glucose and weight without preventing hypoglycemia caused by excess insulin
Overeating to prevent hypoglycemia leads to hyperglycemia and weight gain; the underlying insulin dose or timing should be reassessed with the provider.
A nurse is assessing insulin injection sites on a patient who always injects in the same spot. What complication should the nurse look for?
Answer: Lipohypertrophy—a lumpy, fatty buildup that impairs insulin absorption
Repeated injections in the same site cause lipohypertrophy, making absorption erratic and unpredictable, which destabilizes glucose control.
Which statement correctly describes the relationship between exercise and blood glucose in a patient with type 1 diabetes?
Answer: Exercise generally lowers blood glucose but can cause hyperglycemia if the patient is insulin-deficient at the time of exercise
Exercise increases glucose uptake in muscles (lowering glucose), but without adequate insulin, counter-regulatory hormones can drive hepatic glucose output and worsen hyperglycemia.
A newly diagnosed diabetic patient asks why the provider ordered both insulin glargine at bedtime and insulin aspart with meals. What is the best explanation?
Answer: Glargine covers background insulin needs 24 hours a day, while aspart controls the glucose spike that occurs after eating
A basal-bolus regimen mimics normal pancreatic function: basal insulin (glargine) suppresses hepatic glucose between meals and overnight; bolus insulin (aspart) covers postprandial glucose excursions.
Which of the following patients is at highest risk for hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS)?
Answer: An elderly patient with type 2 diabetes who develops pneumonia and reduced oral intake
HHS typically affects older type 2 diabetic patients during acute illness; the combination of reduced fluid intake, impaired thirst, and stress hyperglycemia drives extreme hyperosmolarity.
A patient's blood glucose before lunch is 245 mg/dL. The sliding scale orders 4 units of regular insulin for glucose 201–250 mg/dL. The patient also has a scheduled mealtime dose of 8 units of regular insulin. What total dose should the LPN prepare?
Answer: 12 units (8 scheduled + 4 correction)
Scheduled mealtime insulin and sliding-scale correction insulin are additive; both are given together and drawn into the same syringe if both are regular insulin.
A patient with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4 is at increased risk for which insulin-related problem?
Answer: Prolonged hypoglycemia because the kidneys normally degrade insulin and this capacity is reduced
The kidneys contribute significantly to insulin degradation; as renal function declines, insulin half-life extends and hypoglycemia risk increases, often requiring dose reductions.