Final answer:
When educating a newly diagnosed type 1 diabetic patient, the nurse should teach them to cleanse the injection site with alcohol prior to injecting insulin. Injection site rotation and the method of mixing insulins are also important considerations but are not the primary focus of the instruction. Insulin injections are crucial for managing type 1 diabetes and must be continued for life.
Step-by-step explanation:
When educating a patient newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes about self-administration of insulin at home, a nurse should instruct them to C) Cleanse the injection site thoroughly with alcohol prior to injecting. This practice ensures that the site is sterilized and helps in preventing infection. While rotating injection sites to prevent lipodystrophy is important, avoiding use of the same site more than once in 2 to 3 weeks (Option A) is too infrequent. Patients are often taught to rotate sites with each injection or at least avoid using the same site more than once or twice a week. It is also permissible to mix certain types of insulin in the same syringe (Option B), as per a doctor's orders, to reduce the number of injections. The angle of insulin injection (Option D) can vary based on the patient's body type; it can be either 45 or 90 degrees.
Insulin injections play an essential role in the management of type 1 diabetes because they allow the transport and storage of glucose to decrease blood glucose levels, particularly after a high-glucose meal. For type 1 diabetics, insulin injections are critical for survival as their pancreas does not produce insulin. These injections must be administered throughout a patient's life.