Premium
Knowledge of diabetes among personnel in home‐based care: how does it relate to medical mishaps?
Author(s) -
Ödegård S.,
Andersson D. K. G.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of nursing management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1365-2834
pISSN - 0966-0429
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2834.2001.00217.x
Subject(s) - diabetes mellitus , medicine , nursing , insulin , blood sugar , medline , family medicine , political science , law , endocrinology
Objective To assess the influence of knowledge about diabetes on the performance of diabetes care for the elderly involving insulin treatment, with special attention to aspects of patient safety in home care. Design A questionnaire was administered to nurse's aides and assistant nurses ( n = 3144). Answers to questions about knowledge of diabetes were related to ‘relevant’ or ‘risky measures’ as judged from a hypothetical diabetes case. A 94% response rate was obtained. The study took place in January 1997 in 15 of Sweden's 289 municipalities. Results Insufficient theoretical knowledge about how the blood sugar is related to an insulin reaction led to an almost threefold increased risk of taking a ‘risky measure’. Insufficient knowledge about reasons for an insulin reaction also resulted in a higher risk, as was the case for personnel working in home based care in contrast to those working solely in Institutional care. In addition, the risk that a nurse's aide would take a ‘risky measure’ was higher than that for an assistant nurse. This may indicate that the basic theoretical knowledge of nurse's aides is inadequate. Conclusion Deficiencies in basic knowledge of diabetes among nurse's aides and assistant nurses constitute a major cause of potentially serious mishaps in home care of elderly diabetic patients treated with insulin.