Diabetes Management

[AdminAdmin]

Nurses are responsible for medication administration, giving care, and educating the patient about the diabetic treatment regimen and life style changes. Expert nursing knowledge and skills are vital to improve outcomes of diabetic care. Especially in the first consultation, nurses have a significant impact on how the patient views the severity of the disease. Giving detailed information about diabetes and its long-term complications, while discussing the importance of medication and life style changes, can build the patient-nurse trust that underlies necessary lifestyle change.

Diabetic patients may be diagnosed while in the hospital for another condition or disease. Thus, all nurses should know the basic approaches to diabetes. However, most nurses do not have the enough background to educate patients about their diabetes, primarily because they have insufficient knowledge or do not trust their knowledge for counseling with diabetic patients.

To increase nurses’ knowledge and expertise about diabetes, what do you see as possible education models and/or techniques that can be used to assist nursing students retain the knowledge on diabetic management?  

[LaurenMendez2]

Diabetes management is a collaborative process. We must work with our patients to improve their knowledge about their disease but we ourselves must know how to as well. There are many resources we can use to retain knowledge on diabetic management. Fortunately for us, LIJ provides us with iLearn modules that help further our education. These modules allow us to read, interact and assess our skills at the completion of the power point. Another way we can retain knowledge on diabetic management is doing research ourselves and participating in programs specifically aimed towards Diabetes. Using the best evidence based practice can ensure patient satisfaction and overall improve patient conditions.

[92gustavson]

As nurses, it is extremely important to make time for and to prioritize patient education. Nurses must be knowledgeable about diabetes and how to manage this chronic disease to ensure their patients are receiving proper education. Nurses should take part in continuing education programs that provide them with sufficient knowledge regarding diabetes. Ilearn modules are extremely useful because nurses have the ability to refer back to them whenever needed. Completing case studies is another way nurses can increase their diabetes knowledge base. In addition, hospitals can arrange diabetic educators to speak about diabetic patient care in order to ensure nurses are properly educated. These are just some ways to improve patient outcomes regarding diabetic care.

[MMik55]

To assist nursing students in retaining knowledge on diabetic management, interactive Ilearn modules and presentations on diabetic care are very important resources that must be utilized. I also believe that one of the best ways to learn and to build confidence is to practice by doing. If we practice by educating our fellow colleagues who already have knowledge on diabetic care, we can receive constructive criticism in how we educate others on diabetes. By following this approach, we can identify where performance gaps are present and can work to make those necessary changes. Pocket guides on diabetes could also serve as excellent reminders on the topic should one forget specific teaching points.

[cgreese1]

According to the CDC 29 million people in the United States have diabetes. So it is important for nurses to understand the disease and be able to properly educate their patients on how to manage the disease. Like our patients, each nursing student learns in a different way: some learn by reading information, others learn by sitting in a seminar. I think when looking to retain information about diabetic management there should be lots of options for nursing students to choose from, like seminars, reading materials, computer modules, etc. I think it is also important to practice giving instruction on diabetes management, this allows you to become more comfortable with the information, so eventually teaching will come naturally.

[Carolinesilva]

Patient education is crucial in establishing a high quality of care for patients. It is especially important for nurses to further expand their knowledge to improve patient outcomes and to lay out a foundation for care plans, etc. I strongly believe that iLearn modules are an excellent resource for nurses and nursing students to refer to. Research on Evidence based practice also provides endless resources, especially for new and updated information that nurses need to gain knowledge in. Nurse should also take part in continuing education courses that are most often offered by the facility they are working in. Having an educator come in and teach about diabetic management would be very efficient. Maybe even having some hands-on workshops (such as administering insulin injections) could be beneficial. All of these can help improve patient satisfaction and overall patient outcomes in hospitals.

[smiluso]

To increase nurses’ knowledge and expertise about diabetes, there are possible education models and/or techniques that can be used to assist nursing students retain the knowledge on diabetic management. Some examples of these models are the iLearn modules on the Northwell website but also research studies and a wide variety of knowledge and materials found online. It is very important for nurses and students to learn and understand this complicated disease and how it impacts all age levels, including women who are pregnant and infants. When nurses and students are explaining information to patients, they can use the teach-back method to make sure they are comprehending and not just listening without knowing what is being portrayed. They not only need to instruct their patients on developing a different lifestyle, but also how to respond and recognize symptoms in emergency situations. One website in particular, is the National Diabetes Education Program. This site explains what diabetes is, what the difference between the types are and how to manage the disease. It provides the tools and training for nurses, students and the average person. One thing I really like about this website is that there are suggestions on how to individualize health care plans that nurses and students can establish with their patients. Also, this site teaches the skills needed to cope with diabetes in the school setting since diabetes seems to be growing among the children population as well.

[spking93]

Diabetes has become such a prevalent disease in the United States that it is absolutely imperative that healthcare professionals and patients have significant knowledge about diabetes management. In order for nurses to care best for diabetic patients, they first must have the knowledge needed to educate their patients. The more information nurses can share with their patients about diabetes management, the more adherent patients will be to their health regimen, and the greater the outcomes. One way to improve knowledge among nurses about diabetes is by holding a tri-annual diabetes education seminar led by a dietitian or certified diabetes nurse educator. It would be beneficial if nurses learned how to explain the disease process to clients in a way they can understand. In addition it would be useful if nurses learned how to create a diabetic meal plan that is suitable to the patient's cultural/religious preferences. Finally, these seminars should especially focus on ways to promote a healthier lifestyle so that diabetic patients can be more involved in their own care. Adequate diabetes education can make a difference in the delivery of care to the diabetic but it can also change their outlook on their health.

[Callanlouie]

It is important to effectively teach our patients about diseases and what healthcare management must be performed in order to maintain a healthy and complication free life. From my own clinical experience, I have found that many diabetic patients do not know how to fully take care of themselves, which can ultimately lead to even more medical complications. Nurses are one of the first lines of education for patients in the healthcare field and it is important for nurses to competently teach. If nurses and students were to attend skill labs or simulations periodically about diabetic management I think there would be more of an understanding about diabetes and management of the disease and thus nurses would be able to pass down this knowledge and learned skills to the patients and family members. Practicing skills and critically thinking during simulations or labs can help nurses prepare for patient teaching in real life healthcare settings. I also believe that modules such as iLearn are generally effective in relying statistics and knowledge but do not help with physical skills because it is less hands on. Overall if more healthcare professionals have a better understanding about diabetes and management efficient teaching can be given to patients and family members and thus a higher chance of patient outcome and less healthcare complications can be achieved.

[AdminAdmin]

Great discussion everyone! Feel free to put more input since we had our lecture on Diabetes Management today- what did you learn that was new for you??

[smiluso]

During today's discussion, I learned about LADA diabetes. It stands for Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adulthood. It is sometimes referred to as Type 1.5. I did not know there was a third classification and I found it very interesting that it is a form of Type 1 that develops into adulthood. I also learned that the life of red blood cells is 90 to 100 days which is why A1C, the estimated blood sugar levels, are measured over 3 months. I think this was an excellent lecture and I feel I really learned a great deal about diabetes.

[89marcello]

I personally believe that the key to retaining any information is to understand it, and then teach it. Simply memorizing information is simple, but it is easily forgotten. If you memorize and then ask "why?", however, that is when you really learn the information. Then, when you understand the information, teach it back to another student and then to a patient. This will really help us remember the info. This is the same type of model we use when assessing discharge teaching and how much the patient understood. We teach, and then they either demonstrate, or state the information back to us. The lecture we listened to on Thursday really opened my eyes to Diabetes and how scary/confusing it may be to patients. I have learned it several time now and I feel as though I am just scratching the surface. Using the teach back method with the help of visuals and kinesthetic learning, we can help better educate patients with diabetes.

[ngirimonte]

Because diabetes is an epidemic that seems to be only growing, nurses need to be experts on the topic in order to provide the tools and knowledge for a healthy lifestyle to their patients. As a nursing student, I strongly believe that learning skills outside of the classroom is a great way to learn something, and then remember it. Every nursing student gets lectured on diabetes and takes notes, however applying the knowledge you have learned in the classroom is the best way to prove you really know it. A few ways of doing this is in the SIM lab and clinical. I think it should be important that all professors make sure their students get that hands-on experience with diabetes. Also, I think diabetes should be a reinforced topic throughout all classes in nursing school, because it is seen so often in our patients.

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