Prof. Name
Date
In this capstone project, Michael’s case of diabetes mellitus has been addressed which is also relevant to personal and professional practice in healthcare setup. Michael is 67 years-old male patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus for 4 years. He has been readmitted to Southern California Hospital at Hollywood, where I work as a Registered Nurse. The patient got admitted due to poor management of diabetes, as his blood glucose level reached 315mg/dL. The patient’s family described that he is unable to maintain his blood glucose levels due to poor dietary habits (use of processed foods) and excessive use of alcohol.
Furthermore, his poor socioeconomic status made him inconsistent in taking medication to control his glucose levels. Michael belongs to a lower-middle-class family and worked as a taxi driver before diabetes took over his life. This led to poor circumstances where his family could barely meet the ends. Michael has minimal knowledge about his disease and its management, which made him negligent in his lifestyle habits. Therefore, this capstone project is based on Michael’s disease as diabetes is fairly relevant to my personal and professional practice.
Substantial Relevance of Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus is one of the chronic diseases that commonly occur in elderly people due to various factors such as age, genetics, and poor lifestyle. In hospitals, the majority of cases in endocrinology departments consist of diabetes mellitus. In one study, it is highlighted that the crude prevalence of diabetes in hospitalized patients ranged from 15% to 16% in various studies (Bradley et al., 2021).
This shows that diabetes is a relevant health problem to professional practice and requires early detection for better control and prevention of diabetes-associated health problems. As a baccalaureate-prepared nurse, I would try my best to provide care treatment to patients with this health problem as it is relevant to my personal and clinical practice.
Nurses are great caretakers for patients in all circumstances as their primary responsibility is to cater to the needs of patients and to provide them with the best possible care treatments. In the case of diabetes, nurses have been immense support as they can provide numerous nursing actions to diabetes in treating and managing the disease. Nurses with their insightful knowledge and practical experience in providing care treatment to patients can educate diabetics on self-care practices and monitoring blood glucose levels.
Furthermore, they can educate patients on the medication required for diabetes treatment and insulin injections. Patient education on diabetes aware patient of their disease and can be empowered to take care of it by themselves. This can be possible if nurses guide patients through proper education (Świątoniowska et al., 2019).
Nurses can also collaborate with dieticians to provide dietary guidance to diabetic patients as hyperglycemia is most commonly caused by unhealthy food intake. The nurses and dieticians together can teach patients about balanced nutrition, portion control, and healthy eating by limiting carbohydrate intake. They can also provide meal planning services with dieticians for diabetic patients who are unable to maintain their healthy habits (Tan et al., 2020).
Often diabetic patients experience depression and need psychological and social support. Nurses can play a vital role in providing psychosocial support to patients by actively listening to their concerns, addressing these concerns, and providing practical solutions to them. Moreover, they can connect diabetics to support groups where they can feel motivated by peer support who have tackled diabetes (Nikitara et al., 2019).
Evaluation of the Evidence
These peer-reviewed literature sources described and guided nursing actions for diabetes. One of the criteria which can be used to evaluate these evidence-based resources is CRAAP criteria. It stands for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. All of the aforementioned literature resources that guide nursing actions are published within the last five years and are reliable. The authors are related to the field of medicine and provided accurate information to lower blood glucose levels in diabetics.
Potential Barriers to Evidence-Based Practice and Guiding Frameworks
Some of the potential barriers to the implementation of evidence-based practices for diabetes care can be nurses’ lack of knowledge, lack of resources, and lack o
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