Rolling the bottle gently
Follow these steps when preparing an insulin shot with
one type of insulin.
Step 1. Roll the
insulin bottle (vial) gently between your hands. Roll a bottle of cloudy
insulin until the white powder has dissolved.
Rolling the bottle
will warm the insulin if you have been keeping the bottle in the refrigerator.
Important: Do not
shake an insulin bottle.
Cleaning the lid of the bottle
Step 2. Wipe the rubber lid of
the insulin bottle with an alcohol wipe or a cotton ball dipped in alcohol. Let
the alcohol dry.
Note: If you are using a
bottle for the first time, remove the protective cover from the rubber lid
before cleaning.
Removing the needle cap
Step 3. Remove the plastic cap
covering the needle on your insulin syringe.
Important: Do not touch the
needle.
Drawing air into the syringe
Step 4. Pull the plunger of the
syringe back and draw air into the syringe equal to the number of units of
insulin to be given.
Forcing air into the bottle
Step 5. First, insert the
needle of the syringe into the rubber lid of the insulin bottle.
Next, push the plunger of the syringe to force the air into the bottle.
Then, leave the needle in the bottle.
Note: Forcing air into the insulin bottle equalizes the
pressure in the bottle when you remove the dose of insulin.
Drawing insulin into the syringe
Step 6. First, turn the bottle
and syringe upside down.
Next, position the tip of the needle so
that it is below the surface of insulin in the bottle.
Then, pull
back the plunger to fill the syringe with slightly more than the correct number
of units of insulin to be given.
Removing the air bubbles
Step 7. First, tap the barrel
of the syringe so that trapped air bubbles move into the needle area.
Next, push the air bubbles back into the bottle.
Important: Make sure you have the correct number of units of
insulin in your syringe.
Finally, remove the needle from the
bottle.
Now you are ready to give the
shot.