Definition of Diabetes
The selected health problem for this project is diabetes. This particular health disease can be defined as a chronic metabolic disorder whereby the human body is not in a position to effectively regulate blood sugar levels and, hence, translates to adverse complications (Bilous. al, 2021). Additionally, based on other academic scholars, diabetes has been defined as a medical condition that happens as a result of blood glucose or blood sugar being too high in the body. The glucose in the body is the main source of energy whereby the glucose is obtained from the food consumed by the people (Bilous. al, 2021). According to publications by the World Health Organization, there has been a dramatic rise in the incidences of diabetes across all income levels countries. Additionally, about a total of 422 million people across the world have diabetes; the majority of the people living with diabetes reside in low and middle-income nations. In regard to the available data, 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes annually (Lovic et al., 2020). With the huge numbers being recorded, the health problem continues to be on the rise currently. Further, diabetes has been established as a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, and heart attack, to mention a few (Horton & Barrett, 2021). Lastly, medical experts have evidently stated that diabetes, in conjunction with its consequences, can be avoided or even eliminated through proper physical activity, proper diet, regular screening, and proper medical treatment.
In my practicum, the patients of choice whom I will be working with are two close family friends who were diagnosed with a medical problem just a few months ago. The reason why I intend to work with this particular patient is because of the ease of access to their information, and also, my interactions will be of much significance to them in regard to early intervention concerning the health problem. Generally, my interactions with these particular patients aim to make a meaningful impact during their critical stage of diabetes management. For instance, it will be of great importance in regard to physical and emotional wellness. For my patients of interest, I will be monitoring their wellbeing using glucose tests such as finger sticks and glucose meters and also using a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device (Mihai et al., 2022). With medical health being on the rise, my patients’ health is of great importance. Hence, effective management and interventions will be vital in improving their health and wellbeing wellbeing.
Being a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, diabetes as a health problem is relevant to my practice in various ways to my future aspirations. By deeply analyzing this particular issue, I will gain outstanding insights and professional experience in dealing with similar instances in the future accordingly. Additionally, diabetes closely resonates with my role as a baccalaureate-prepared nurse due to its increasing prevalence and management complexity (Markwell, 2020). Additionally, by tackling diabetes in this project, I bring out adequate information in regard to general health enhancement and, in the long run, contributing to quality patient outcomes, demonstrating and providing my nursing skills to the public.
Analysis of Diabetes
As per the research conducted by Cho and Kim. 2021, titled Self-management Nursing Intervention for Controlling Glucose among Diabetes, states that it is of great importance to consider self-management of diabetes as the medical problem is on the rise. In regards to what is evident in daily nursing experiences, the article states that diabetes is a chronic disease, and it is continuing to increase based on the medical reports. Just as I intend to achieve with my two chosen patients by aiding them in managing their medical issues effectively, the article by Cho and Kim also emphasizes the possible interventions that can be deployed. It analyzes the overall effect of self-management nursing interventions (Cho & Kim, 2021). Additionally, the article agrees with the information attained earlier in that diabetes, if left unattended by professionals, results in severe medical conditions such as increased risks of heart attack and stroke (Bilous. al, 2021). Additionally, the peer-reviewed article gives critical information that relativity my daily practices in that the article states that it is of great importance to consider self-management of diabetes because the consequences of the medical problem can be controlled, and if left unattended, it can cause more advanced effects and death to some extents. Just as it is advisable in medical institutions and my daily practices, the article gave some of the possible ways that can be used to manage diabetes complications, namely, diet control, physical activities, medications, and also regular screenings.
Further, in regards to ascertaining the reliability of the information attained from mk. In Cho’s article, the author did an excellent job of citing the sources of his information. Additionally, I found the article from a reliable site, Google Scholar, where credible scholarly articles are attained.
An article by Nguyen et al. 2022, aimed at exploring the barriers and facilitators perceived by older adults during self-management processes concerning chronic issues such as diabetes demonstrated some limitations that prevent the easy implementation of evidence-based practices. The article focused more on the limiting factors of older people, but the challenges are almost similar across all generations (Nguyen et al., 2022). Some of the established drawbacks include physical and cognitive decline, low health literacy, cultural differences, and professional relations with the patients.
According to Lukewich et.al 2020 article; it examined the effectiveness of nurses and nursing practices as a whole on the effectiveness of solutions that can translate to quality care for patients with diabetes. The article emphasized how nurses can incorporate nursing standards in their daily operations and attain outstanding outcomes concerning diabetes patients. The article emphasized the aspect of patient satisfaction, self-efficacy, and improvement in health. Moving on, closely related to the article reviewed above is the article by Keller emphasizing the effectiveness of nurses-administered diabetes medication self-management education; the article outlines how nurses can have an enormous impact in terms of policy making for they are responsible for primary care and can structure policies that will positively impact tpatient’snts outcomes. Additionally, nurses enable proper patient care, for they play the role of representing the patients during policy-making procedures (Keller, 2021). Nurses hold a critical space in providing patients with the right education concerning diabetes management, and this translates positively into lowering the rates of hospital readmissions.
A nursing process theory, as explained by Ida Jean, is responsible for exploring and analyzing the importance of relationships that are established between nurses and patients. In simple terms, the theory explains how the actions of one of these two parties can affect the other in different ways. Even though there are various theories that all focus on enhancing the quality of healthcare for patients, the theory of Human Caring stands out because of its focus on how nurses and the treatment plans they implement can be instrumental in promoting health and preventing sicknesses (Allande-Cussó et al., 2021). The theory acknowledges the differences in patients and encourages nurses to facilitate care based on the progress of patients. Generally, the theory advocates for tailored, customized care for the patients.
Nursing Practice Standards and Policies that Affect Diabetes Patients
One particular standard that will impact diabetes patients positively is the standard that emphasizes nurses engaging in therapeutic and professional relationships. Even though various standards can effectively affect diabetes patients, this particular one will be more effective because the nurses’ way of giving care is moderated and structured. Their interactions need to have a clear boundary between professional and personal lives. Further, the standard will affect diabetes patients in that it values their uniqueness and advises nurses that patients are the experts in their lives. Hence, health-related decisions need to be critically considered together with respect for personal autonomy and legal capacity (Linton & Koonmen, 2020).
Moreover, as mentioned above, nurses play a critical role in ensuring that diabetes patients and generally all other patients receive the proper care. In order to achieve this outcome, they take part in ensuring the institution’s policies are structured in a way that focuses on providing quality care that will translate to low hospital readmissions (Keller, 2021). Guided by the nursing standards and Policies, all patients receive the right or appropriate care despite anyone’s background or financial capabilities. A perfect example of how the policy will affect the patient is in the instance of my chosen patients, who will largely appreciate the respect for their decisions in regards to managing their illness.
Leadership Strategies to Improved Diabetes Patient Outcomes
The wellbeing of the patients does not entirely depend on the medication aspect; the leadership Strategies employed in the institutions hold a vital position in regard to diabetes patient outcomes. Leadership Strategies in medical institutions inform the way policies are made and instituted and, hence, the overall governance of the nurses. Additionally, in medical institutions where professionalism is vital concerning diabetes and all other types of illnesses, leadership Strategies guide how professionals offer services to the patients and indirectly or directly influence the patient’s outcomes, more so to the positive outcomes (American Diabetes Association, 2020). In regard to the different leadership approaches, one critical approach that can be beneficial to diabetes patients is Transformational leadership, for they are entirely focused on attaining significant positive change for all relevant parties; hence, for diabetes patients, it will be of great importance to be employed.
The leadership in regards to addressing the issue of diabetes management needs to have a proper understanding of the issue before making rushed decisions. Properly understanding the medical issues as a nurse leader means that in your area of governance, operations are running effortlessly in the sense that the right resources are available at all times to support nurses in monitoring and providing quality care to diabetes patients properly. Additionally, nurse leaders need to be on the frontline, championing evidence-based practices in their institutions, for it translates to quality service delivery in terms of efficiency and safety measures for both the patients and the nurses (Dang et al., 2021). On the other hand, leaders need to appreciate the nursing teams when faced with challenging situations to motivate them and boost their abilities, for it also translates to the nurses feeling appreciated and respected for the outstanding services they provide.
Collaboration and communication strategies also hold a critical space in the efforts put in place for addressing diabetes. From my perspective, it is important to consider creating relevant awareness regarding the medical problem, and it will call for adequate collaboration with parties such as willing students in universities and colleges who will aid in spreading awareness of diabetes (Shirey et al., 2020). Able and willing financial sponsors will also be of great benefit, for they will necessitate the volunteers to reach a wide range of rheumatoid create awareness, and offer education-related advice to the public. Additionally, my collaboration will also extend to include diabetes patients such as my chosen patients, who are willing to share their diabetes management journey with others (Shirey et al., 2020). In conjunction with the collaborative efforts, the need for a change management strategy is also valuable. The effective change strategy that I believe will be fruitful is having a separate department that will fully focus on diabetes management. It will need to be fully provided with the right human resources and also finances in order to promote a fast recovery journey for the patients.
In conclusion, diabetes being the selected health problem for this project, it is important to note that the medical issue is on the rise globally and not only in particular regions of the globe. Based on the implications that are related to diabetes if left unattended, it is important to start championing proper management of the health problem (Lovic et al., 2020). Having discussed the causes of diabetes, it is then of great importance to participate in the preventive measures that will eliminate diabetes instances, such as maintaining a proper diet, regular screening, and also being physically active (Mihai et al., 2022). Lastly, the selected health problem is specifically identified as a threat to a particular age group, and hence, it calls for young people to engage in creating awareness and also being informed early enough on how to deal with the issue. Nurses and other leaders also need to take part in implementing the right strategies in monitoring the issue and collaborating with other parties to ensure the successful management of diabetes.
References
Allande-Cussó, R., Gómez-Salgado, J., Macias-Seda, J., & Porcel-Gálvez, A. M. (2021). Assessment of the nurse-patient interaction competence in undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 96, 104627. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0260691720314775
American Diabetes Association. (2020). 5. Facilitating behavior change and wellbeing to improve health outcomes: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2020. Diabetes care, 43(Supplement_1), S48-S65. https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/43/Supplement_1/S48/30785/5-Facilitating-Behavior-Change-and-Well-being-to
Bilous, R., Donnelly, R., & Idris, I. (2021). Handbook of diabetes. John Wiley & Sons. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=EHwlEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=Definition+of+Diabetes&ots=6w1gt-CMjn&sig=cHuYMXqsPtLTKu4b9oe-6v60O7A&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Definition%20of%20Diabetes&f=false
Cho, M. K., & Kim, M. Y. (2021). Self-management nursing intervention for controlling glucose among diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(23), 12750. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/23/12750
Dang, D., Dearholt, S. L., Bissett, K., Ascenzi, J., & Whalen, M. (2021). Johns Hopkins evidence-based practice for nurses and healthcare professionals: Model and guidelines. Sigma Theta Tau. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=m4k4EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=nurse+leaders+need+to+be+in+the+frontline,+championing+for+evidence-based+practices+in+their+institutions+for+it+translates+to+quality+service+delivery+in+terms+of+efficiency+and+safety+measures+for+both+the+patients+and+the+nurses.&ots=pVIywKzayf&sig=3zbs4xfGoKmIfrhX2Qc_77JEKY4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
Horton, W. B., & Barrett, E. J. (2021). Microvascular dysfunction in diabetes mellitus and cardiometabolic disease. Endocrine Reviews, 42(1), 29–55. https://academic.oup.com/edrv/article/42/1/29/5944061
Keller, M. L. (2021). Effectiveness of Nurse Administered Diabetes Medication Self-Management Education (Doctoral dissertation, Grand Canyon University). https://www.proquest.com/openview/a459b084f9d27666d02a3af480620e2a/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Linton, M., & Koonmen, J. (2020). Self-care is an ethical obligation for nurses. Nursing ethics, 27(8), 1694-1702. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0969733020940371
Lovic, D., Piperidou, A., Zografou, I., Grassos, H., Pittaras, A., & Manolis, A. (2020). The growing epidemic of diabetes mellitus. Current vascular pharmacology, 18(2), 104-109. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ben/cvp/2020/00000018/00000002/art00003
Lukewich, J., Allard, M., Ashley, L., Aubrey-Bassler, K., Bryant-Lukosius, D., Klassen, T., … & Wong, S. T. (2020). National competencies for registered nurses in primary care: a Delphi study. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 42(12), 1078–1087. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0193945920935590
Markwell, G. M. (2020). Using Simulation to Improve Skills, Confidence, and Satisfaction Related to Diabetes Education. https://encompass.eku.edu/dnpcapstones/51/
Mihai, D. A., Stefan, D. S., Stegaru, D., Bernea, G. E., Vacaroiu, I. A., Papacocea, T., … & Olaru, O. G. (2022). Continuous glucose monitoring devices: A brief presentation. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 23(2), 1-6. https://www.spandidos-publications.com/10.3892/etm.2021.11097
Nguyen, T. N. M., Whitehead, L., Saunders, R., & Dermody, G. (2022). A systematic review of perception of barriers and facilitators to chronic disease self‐management among older adults: Implications for evidence‐based practice. Worldviews on Evidence‐Based Nursing, 19(3), 191–200. https://sigmapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/wvn.12563
Shirey, M. R., Selleck, C. S., White-Williams, C., Talley, M., & Harper, D. C. (2020). Sustainability of an interprofessional collaborative practice model for population health. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 44(3), 221–234. https://journals.lww.com/naqjournal/abstract/2020/07000/sustainability_of_an_interprofessional.7.aspx
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