Question: Among new graduate registered nurses, does education on diabetic ulcers improve nursing knowledge of preventing and managing diabetic ulcers?
Population of focus: New graduate nurses.
The practicum project was a staff education project to train new graduate nurses on diabetic ulcers.
The project was driven by the observation that new grad nurses had inadequate knowledge and skills in screening and assessing patients to identify patients at high risk of diabetic ulcers.
Inadequate knowledge among the new grad RNs was attributed to a lack of exposure to managing patients with diabetic ulcers (Abate et al., 2020).
They also have inadequate formal training programs on diabetic ulcers.
The new grad RNs need adequate knowledge of diabetic ulcers to reduce complications of foot amputations (Innes-Walker et al., 2019).
The project site was a Professional Home Health. This is a hospice that provides home care services.
New grad nurses in the facility demonstrated low knowledge score on diabetic ulcers, which had compromised diabetic care standards resulting in poor health outcomes.
This had resulted in frequent admissions and readmissions of patients due to associated complications (Innes-Walker et al., 2019).
It has also significantly affected patients’ quality of life.
Poor management practices have resulted in prolonged hospital stays & high healthcare costs,
This has created an economic burden for patients and the healthcare system.
The goal of the staff education project was to educate new grad nurses about diabetic ulcers, including assessment, prevention, and management interventions.
The project was expected to improve new grad nurses’ knowledge scores on diabetic ulcers by imparting knowledge and skills on managing the condition (Bilal et al., 2018). It was anticipated that the nurses would gain adequate knowledge and skills to provide high standards of care.
When nurses are bestowed with the knowledge needed to provide patient care, it increases their confidence and empowers them in decision-making (Bilal et al., 2018).
Training new grad RNs would improve their practice behaviors and attitude toward diabetic ulcers.
The project was implemented over two days. New grad nurses were trained on various aspects of diabetic ulcers including clinical manifestations, risk factors, treatment, nursing management, prevention, and health education approaches.
Participants were administered a pretest questionnaire before the training and posttest questionnaire after. The pre-test questionnaire assessed nurses’ knowledge scores on diabetic ulcers and gaps with regard to the topic. On the other hand, the post-test questionnaire examined the impact of the training and if it has helped to close the gaps in knowledge.
From the assessment findings, nurses demonstrated improved knowledge scores on diabetic ulcers. There was also improved skills on managing diabetic ulcers. Besides nurses demonstrated increased confidence in their ability to assess and manage patients with diabetic ulcers. There was also improved clinical decision-making among nurses regarding management of patients with diabetic ulcers.
Abate, T. W., Enyew, A., Gebrie, F., & Bayuh, H. (2020). Nurses’ knowledge and attitude towards diabetes foot care in Bahir Dar, North West Ethiopia. Heliyon, 6(11), e05552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05552