Impact of Health Education by the In-Patient Diabetes Care Link Nurse Team on Glyce mic Control during Hospitalization and After Discharge
Abstract:
Acute chronic diabetes mellitus (DM) complications are recurrent among hospitalized patients, which prolongs hospitalization and hinders treatment. Objective: To measure the impact of the In-Patient Care Link Nurse Team (IPCLNT) on improving diabetes care in-hospital and post-discharge. Methods: A team of 12 staff nurses from each hospital unit at MAIR Hospital, UAE, was formed. We presented a workshop on various inpatient diabetes care topics to enhance their comprehension of concepts and skills, applying King's theory of goal attainment. Thereafter, they implemented what they learned in a hospital setting. The study used quantitative experimental design measures to look at how much better diabetes care was. It looked at 70 patients from November to March 2023, before the IPCLNT was set up, and another 70 patients from April to August 2023. The first group received structured diabetes education by a certified diabetes educator (CDEN) and conventional in-hospital nursing care. On the other hand, the second group received both structured diabetes education from the CDEN and con tinuous follow-up during their admission from IPCLNT. Both groups underwent regular HbA1c monitoring after discharge. Results for both groups showed Hospitalized diabetes patients showed improved glycemic control (p = 0.0055) and referral to an endocrinologist (p = 0.0131) after inpatient care, highlighting the importance of diabetes education and inpatient nursing staff training.
