03/01/2026
I once posted âbout prescription error ând I used the image below to illustrate, imagine being called by your colleague to come confirm something, only to see they actually withdrew 10ml of insulin instead of 10IU 😳😳, that’s a disaster waiting to happen, now read what my senior colleague wrote âbout her experience on the same topic
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I remember a day on duty when there were three nurses and a group of student Nurses posted to our unit. Each student was attached to a nurse. One of my colleagues asked a student Nurse to draw up 10 international units (10iu) of insulin for a subcutaneous injection. It sounded straightforward.
Insulin, however, is prescribed in units and must be drawn with an insulin syringe calibrated in units. As I walked past to attend to the same patient for another task, something caught my attention. On the tray was a regular syringe filled to 10 mls. The student had drawn 10 milliliters of insulin instead of 10 units. She had already informed my colleague she was ready and was asking, “Since it’s just subcutaneous, can I give it?”
That moment was chilling😿. Ten millilitres of insulin is not a minor mistake; it is a potentially catastrophic overdose. The route does not reduce the drug’s potency. If that injection had been given, it would have been a preventable disaster 🤦♀️
This was not a junior student. Some of them are in their final year and can perform many procedures confidently. But confidence does not replace supervision. The same applies to newly employed nurses. No matter how strong a CV looks, everyone needs guidance in a new environment.
Supervision protects patients. It protects learners. It protects the profession. In healthcare, small errors can have serious consequences. A watchful eye can prevent them.
C0pied health guideline
