Diabetes is among major health issues that need quality healthcare and intervention to sustain and overcome. The researchers have shown dedication to taking care of diabetic patients, identifying the best ways to overcome the latter’s health issues. Nurses can found essential insights in “Evaluation of Nurses’ Knowledge Levels of Diabetic Foot Care Management” Kaya and Karaca (2018). Alotaibi et al.’s “Diabetes Knowledge of Nurses in Different Countries: An Integrative Review” may also be a source of best nursing care approaches to treat the targeted patients. Diabetes affects how glucose is managed in the blood and is a severe issue for a nurse caring for diabetic patients. The discussion below aims to address whether nurses caring for diabetes patients have issues regarding this disease management and provide reasons to overcome these issues.
Background of Studies
To begin with, it seems rational to provide expedient summaries of the studies analyzed. The first article contains the research question that implies that the authors’ goal was to “identify and synthesize evidence of nurses’ knowledge of diabetes and identify factors that function as barriers to nurses’ acquisition of diabetes knowledge” (Alotaibi et al., 2016, p. 33). The authors’ objective is to define and appraise the evidence of the knowledge nurses have on diabetes and identify the factors that limit them from attaining the right knowledge on diabetes. The article adopts a systematic search approach and other tools to explore the topic. The study is focused on both emerging and developed countries and uses various techniques to assess nurses’ knowledge on health issues. The study concludes that nurses demonstrate significant and long-standing knowledge deficits in various aspects of diabetes. In such instances, the strategies are needed to overcome the defined barriers to the acquisition of knowledge.
According to the following article’s research questions, its authors aimed to evaluate the nurses’ level of knowledge on diabetic foot care management and explore the influencing factors. Kaya and Karaca (2018) appreciate that nurses are a part of the critical teams that relate to the treatment and management of diabetes. The authors acknowledge that the nursing fraternity plays a vital role in deterring diabetic foot management and teaching patients about the risks they face. They adopted a cross-sectional approach with samples collected from nurses across a private facility. The findings note that many nurses do not have the desired training in diabetic foot care. Most of them did not teach the patients how to deal with diabetic foot complications properly and failed to conduct any exams on their clients. Therefore, the authors concluded that although the nurses’ level of knowledge is adequate, they fail to adopt it during the care. The identification of whether this state of affairs was real was the purpose of the study. The article recommends training programs to encourage nurses to participate in these programs during the care for diabetic patients.
Study Methods and Limitations
Alotaibi et al., in their study, turned to an integrative approach with a five-step method to embrace multiple research types. A systematic search strategy was developed to define and retrieve the relevant literature. The collected data were extracted using a related table to compare it with other literature. It should be mentioned that descriptive analysis was employed to synthesize the data. The authors reviewed twenty-five studies and found that the nursing workforce worldwide suffers from limited knowledge in most aspects of diabetes.
The information presented by the scholars significantly informs the nursing teams on the factors they need to carefully address to be armed with the best ability to manage any cases of diabetes care. Given that the authors identified the areas of deficit, nurses can focus on these sectors and ensure the nursing team is well-versed in the critical tools needed to improve diabetic care’s quality and safety. Limitations are present as well: Alotaibi et al. (2016) reviewed studies with a substantial extent of heterogeneity, which did not allow to combine findings on the issue.
The second analyzed study uses a descriptive cross-sectional method conducted in a private facility approved by a joint accreditation. This article takes advantage of one of Turkey’s largest hospitals and a training center for various health care professionals. The research identifies that nurses have contact with patients constantly, and they play essential roles in educating these clients. They can give the necessary knowledge regarding the disease for diabetic individuals and assist in preparing and employment of the education agendas. The study further identifies that the nurses can help prepare and implement the education programs to help patients develop a self-care behavior related to diabetic foot care.
The study highlights that although the nurses’ mean level of knowledge is high, they usually do not provide preventive education to the patients at risk of diabetic foot issues. This study’s main limitation is its limited scope (the hospitals in Turkey) that makes it hardly universally applicable in medical practice. Its results cannot be significantly generalized; however, its importance and insights should not be underestimated.
Evaluation of Benefits and Results
The two peer-reviewed articles provide adequate information that the nurses can use to make better choices in their daily care of diabetic patients. In terms of benefits, they both acknowledge and appreciate that nurses have issues they need to consider in their approaches to care about their diabetic patients, directly associated with the PICOT question. For instance, the article by Kaya and Karaca identifies the problem (nurses as educators), patient issue (foot diabetes consequences), intervention (training programs on diabetic foot management), and outcomes (fewer amputation cases). The PICOT question’s time element was not included, whereas findings were compared to the absence of proposed change intervention.
Alotaibi et al.’s article also aims to assess the level of nurses’ knowledge regarding diabetes treatment and how it influences the patients’ health outcomes. The article compares outcomes of studies representing different countries and different medical teams identified in the PICOT question. This article mainly presents the best ways to determine nurses’ knowledge deficits regarding diabetes care; however, it fails to suggest and compare possible interventions. The time element was neglected, while the study is in line with the stated outcome (improve nurses’ knowledge). Finally, it should be emphasized that the studies’ findings identified the issues that nurses caring for diabetes patients have, provided rationale on why these issues should be addressed, as well as possible approaches to resolve them. This seems to address the PICOT question expediently and appropriately.
Ethical Issues
Ethical issues are critical in research studies, especially those with human subjects as the participants. Both studies have taken note of the moral aspect and employed various initiatives to ensure no unethical activities are involved. The information about the participants in the article is kept confidential. The research aims and objectives acknowledge the human subjects’ efforts and carry out significant measures to ensure they understand the purpose of their engagement in the study and the roles they play towards facilitating the research. The authors of both articles confirm the study’s information does not violate the patient’s privacy or take advantage of their volunteerism to engage in the study. The participants are informed of the research’s purpose, and their contributions will be reserved and used for academic purposes.
Conclusion
To conclude, both articles are focused on providing knowledge and elements that the nurses can take into account to improve the care of diabetic patients. The authors of both studies state that the nurses have knowledge of diabetes but have not adequately employed them to teach their patients the critical things they need to note about the condition. The authors of both articles appreciate that while nurses know diabetic issues, they fail to exercise their familiarity with the health condition to improve their patients’ quality of care. Nurses can actively use these studies’ information to meet the healthcare stakeholders’ expectations and improve their professionalism.
References
Alotaibi, A., Al-Ganmi, A., Gholizadeh, L., & Perry, L. (2016). Diabetes knowledge of nurses in different countries: An integrative review. Nurse Education Today, 39, 32-49. Web.
Kaya, Z., & Karaca, A. (2018). Evaluation of nurses’ knowledge levels of diabetic foot care management. Nursing Research and Practice, 2018, 1-12. Web.