Courses · Clinical Safety
Diabetes Management and Insulin Administration
Blood glucose monitoring, hypo and hyper recognition, insulin types and injection technique, sick days, pumps and CGM — everything a support worker needs to keep a participant with diabetes safe.
About this certificate
Non-accredited Certificate of Completion covering underpinning knowledge. IMPORTANT — knowledge alone does not authorise you to administer insulin. Subcutaneous injection is listed in the NDIS High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors: before giving insulin to a participant you must also have participant-specific practical competency sign-off by a registered nurse or appropriately qualified health practitioner, a current diabetes management plan, access to clinical supervision, and your provider's authorisation. Competency is participant-specific and does not transfer between participants.
About this module
Diabetes is common among NDIS participants and it is dangerous when it is managed badly. This module covers the types of diabetes, blood glucose monitoring and target ranges, recognising and treating hypoglycaemia including severe hypos and glucagon, hyperglycaemia and diabetic ketoacidosis, the insulin types and how they differ, safe injection technique and site rotation, storage and sharps, sick day rules, insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors, long-term complications and foot care, and the scope-of-practice boundaries that decide what you may and may not do.
Who it is for
Support workers and personal care workers supporting participants with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, SIL and group home staff, and team leaders overseeing diabetes supports.
What you will be able to do
- Explain how type 1, type 2 and other forms of diabetes differ and why that changes the support
- Measure and interpret a blood glucose level and know the target range for that participant
- Recognise and treat hypoglycaemia, including severe hypo and the use of glucagon
- Recognise hyperglycaemia, ketones and diabetic ketoacidosis, and escalate correctly
- Describe the insulin types, storage, safe injection technique and site rotation
- Apply sick day rules and recognise when diabetes has become an emergency
Aligned to
- NDIS Practice Standards — Management of Medication
- NDIS High Intensity Support Skills Descriptors — Subcutaneous injections
- Australian Diabetes Society / ADEA clinical guidance
- NDIS Code of Conduct — safe and competent supports
Lesson plan
What the module covers
| # | Lesson | What it covers | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Scope of practice, and what diabetes actually is | What you may do, and the biology that makes the rest make sense. | 14m |
| 02 | Blood glucose monitoring, targets and CGM | Taking a reading properly, knowing what it means, and what the newer devices do. | 14m |
| 03 | Hypoglycaemia — the emergency you will actually meet | Recognising a hypo, treating it, and what to do when the person cannot swallow. | 16m |
| 04 | Hyperglycaemia, ketones and sick days | When high glucose becomes an emergency, and why illness changes everything. | 14m |
| 05 | Insulin — types, storage and safe injection | The highest-risk medication in this module, and how to give it correctly. | 18m |
| 06 | Food, activity and supporting someone well | The everyday decisions that decide whether diabetes is managed well or badly. | 12m |
| ✓ | Final assessment | 14 scenario-based questions · pass mark 85% · unlimited attempts | ~15m |
Also in Clinical Safety
Infection Control
Break the chain of infection in homes, group settings and the community — standard precautions, PPE, transmission-based precautions, spills, sharps and outbreak response.
Hand Hygiene
The single most effective infection control measure there is — the WHO 5 Moments, correct technique, timing, and how to apply all of it in a participant's home.
Medication Management
Assist with medication safely and lawfully — scope of practice, the Rights of administration, webster packs, PRN, refusal, errors and chemical restraint.