Abstracts Health Sciences

The Impact of Diabetes Education on Nurses’ Knowledge of In-patient Diabetes Management

by Arletha Coffey

Research strongly supports the use of an educational intervention to improve nurses’ knowledge of management of patients with diabetes (Abduelkarem & Shareif, 2013; Holmes & Dyer, 2012; Modic et al., 2013; Yacoub et al., 2014; Young, 2011). Nursing leadership in a small rural acute care facility voiced concerns related to ineffective communication among bedside nurses and lack of evidence-based knowledge in regard to prompt recognition, treatment and follow-up of episodic hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic reactions. The researcher used a convenience sample of 65 registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) from the critical care, progressive care, obstetrics, and medical-surgical units and a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design to evaluate whether an educational program on diabetes management would improve nursing knowledge of management of hospitalized patients with diabetes. Based on the quantitative analysis of the means from the study’s pre- and post- Diabetic Knowledge Tests (DKT) [Michigan Diabetes Research Training Center (MDRTC), 2015], research findings supported the implementation of the educational intervention (p =.000). DKT reliability was measured at .881 and the pre-test and post-test scores showed strong correlation (r = .865). The major limitations of the study were the small sample size and lack of generalizability to other settings. The most important implication of this study is that the researcher plans to collaborate with nursing staff and leadership at this facility and assist with facilitating a diabetes management educational program for new hires and in-services as needed. Advisors/Committee Members: Whalen, Kathleen, Cullen, Patricia.