Identification of Topic and Its Relevance
Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder resulting in an increased amount of sugar in the blood. Studies have shown that it is one of the leading causes of mortality, early disability, blindness amongst working adults, end-stage kidney disease, and non-traumatic limb amputations. From the above, it is safe to assume that inadequate management and control of diabetes mellitus lead to the development of complications that could result in death if not properly managed and addressed. According to Powers, the number of people suffering from diabetes mellitus has increased over the past years. In the year 2007, diabetes mellitus was ranked seventh among the leading causes of death in the United States. Moreover, it was listed fourth among the diseases most common for doctor visits.
The above statistics suggest a need for diabetic patients to know how to manage their lifestyle once diagnosed to reduce chances of complications. The extent of the complications and risks associated with diabetes mellitus makes the disease the one that requires adequate and timely treatment. Powers explains that along with treatment, patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus ought to receive education about nutrition, exercise, and care during illness. He further states that patient education will help them become responsible for their health and improve diabetic control. Therefore, the education needs to be done by someone who can effectively present the message to the patient, like nurses.
Over the years, many definitions have been given to the term nursing. Although they are different, all of them encompass the same idea. The nursing profession provides aid to both healthy and sick individuals. Furthermore, the role of the nurse in the society is not only that of a caregiver, but also that of a teacher, leader, counselor, and manager. Berman et al. explain, “Teaching client education is a major aspect of nursing practice and an important independent nursing function”. As a result, this topic is of relevance to the nursing field because if clients are taught how to manage their disease, there can be a reduction of diabetic related admittances and possible deaths. This project focuses on how the nurse can teach newly diagnosed diabetic patients how to live and manage their life despite their diabetic condition.
Client Population
The client population for this educational lesson will comprise all clients with the recent diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. The reason for not considering restrictions such as age, gender, or cultural identity is that diabetes mellitus is divided into two or sometimes even three types, including type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. Type 1 is usually associated with younger patients who are not older than 30 while type 2 is limited to older ages and people suffering from obesity. Gestational diabetes is diabetes in pregnant women. Due to its wide scope, for this educational lesson, all recently or newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus patients will make up the client population. The client population will also include family members residing with the diagnosed, especially if the client is an elderly person or a child. It will help ensure that the guardians of the diagnosed are aware of what is required of the patient and can monitor the client at home.
The client population will mostly focus on people from poor socioeconomic backgrounds as they have a higher chance of not meeting the new lifestyle requirements associated with diabetes mellitus (The National Bureau of Economic Research, n.d.). Diabetic education will provide them with the opportunity of understanding their condition. It will also help them understand the complications involved if they do not comply with the required lifestyle changes.
The client population will also include patients who have low literacy, educational, and language levels. It will give them the chance of understanding the disease so that even if they do not know how to read, just by attending the lessons they will have enough knowledge to manage diabetes mellitus. However, patients with disabilities will not be included in the client population, as they may have specific lifestyles that they are following and changes in the lifestyle could do more harm than good. Such patients will have individual lessons.
Review of nursing history and assessment interviews will be the basis for client population selection. It will assist in selecting and identifying patients who need further information about the disease and its management and clients who do not need education. For example, if during the assessment, recently diagnosed clients show knowledge of the disease and know what is required of them; such patients can have a brief one-to-one instruction instead of attending the full lesson.
Teaching Site
The teaching site for this educational lesson will be the hospital, which will make it accessible for the identified clients and will ensure their privacy. It will also allow me easy access to equipment that I may need to provide relevant examples during the lesson. The teaching site will also show the seriousness of the topic allowing clients to be serious.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the educational session:
- The patient will be able to describe the reasons for the change of lifestyle. The first lesson will be in the form of questions and answers to achieve the objective and help clients understand the aim behind the objective.
- The patient will be able to identify lifestyle changes that need implementing. The second lesson will be in the form of a presentation and discussions to achieve the objective and help patients understand the aim behind the objective.
- The patient will be able to recall and name risks involved with non-compliance with the new lifestyle.
- The patients will be able to identify signs of poor diabetes management. The third lesson will combine third and fourth learning objectives. The lesson, like previous lessons, will be in the form of presentation to help clients understand its aim.
- The patient will be able to perform self-monitoring of blood glucose according to methods demonstrated. The fourth lesson will be in the form of a presentation, demonstration, and practice. Using demonstrations will ensure that clients understand the material and can recall it for future use.
- The patient will be able to demonstrate one change they can make in their lifestyle and explain how it will benefit them. The sixth lesson will be a practical one, with the aim of checking whether the previous lessons have been beneficial to clients and whether they have learned anything.
- The patient will be able to develop a diet plan and explain how the change will benefit them. The fifth lesson will cover this objective. It will be in the form of presentations and discussions.
- The patient will be able to identify signs of a diabetic emergency.
- The patient will be able to recall first aid in the case of the diabetic emergency. The seventh lesson will combine eighth and ninth learning objectives. The lesson will make use of presentations and demonstrations to help clients understand its aim.
- The patient will be able to self-administer insulin according to the methods demonstrated.
- The patient will be able to describe the consequences of missed insulin doses. The eighths lesson will be devoted to achieving tenth and eleventh learning objectives. The lesson will make use of presentations, demonstrations, and practice to help clients understand its goal.
Teaching Plan
The topic consists of eight one-hour lessons, which will take place in the evening. The majority of the lessons will be in the form of discussions and presentations though a few of them will be practical. Presentations and demonstrations during these lessons will serve as the primary method of message delivery. At the end of each lesson, patients will receive follow-up material in the form of booklets, pamphlets, videos, and cartoons or comics. This follow-up material will allow for further study at home for those who may not have the opportunity to find information elsewhere. It will also give patients the chance to review lessons learned. Furthermore, clients will receive various links that they can use to search for more information online while at home.
The first lesson will focus on different types of diabetes, explain lifestyle habits that need changing, and aim at meeting the first learning objective. The lesson will be in the form of questions and answers to allow interaction between patients and me. During this lesson, I will seek to teach the patients about lifestyle habits that they will have to change if they want to live healthy with diabetes and manage their disease effectively. Moreover, I will suggest recommendations regarding the successful introduction of changes. Word selection and approach of answering should be chosen carefully not to offend anyone. I should consider the client population when making recommendations, for example, if the patient is overweight, I should not tell the patient to stop eating but rather suggest exercise and light meals. Presentation of this part will take twenty minutes. After the presentation, patients will be divided into groups and each group will receive problem-solving tasks to discuss and apply what they have learned. Each group will present their answers after ten minutes of discussion. Presentations of answers will be twenty minutes to allow for discussions if needed. Patients will have ten minutes to write tests at the end of the lesson, which will help evaluate progress and understanding of the presentation. Finally, I will distribute the follow-up material.
The second lesson will consider exercise as an element that needs implementing in the lifestyle. This lesson will aim at addressing the second objective. In this lesson, I will seek to address reasons exercise is necessary and its connection to diabetes. This lesson will be in the form of a presentation and I will have to keep in mind the client population when presenting information. I should be sensitive while presenting the issue of weight and how being overweight affects the patient’s health, especially in a condition related to diabetes. I will provide examples of exercises patients can do bearing in mind the client population. I will also give instructions how exercises should be done to avoid hypoglycemia. The presentation will last thirty minutes, then patients will be divided into groups and solve tasks, which will take ten minutes. Afterward, they will have ten minutes to present the results. At the end of the lesson, ten minutes will be provided for clients to do a test. I will distribute pamphlets, which may help clarify the topic covered.
The third lesson will cover complications of poor diabetes management. In this lesson, I will seek to show patients the importance of maintaining the new lifestyle. This lesson will aim at addressing the third and fourth objectives. The first ten minutes of the lesson will be devoted to the review of the previous lesson by answering a few questions. Then I will begin the new lesson, which will inform patients about complications that can arise due to poor management of diabetes and failure to follow recommendations. This lesson will be in the form of a presentation, which will last forty minutes. Visual aids in the form of pictures will be used to demonstrate complications that can arise and show the severity of complications. Patients will have ten minutes to write a test at the end of the lesson, which will help evaluate progress and understanding of the presentation. Afterward, patients will receive booklets explaining more details concerning diabetic complications.
The fourth lesson will focus on measuring sugar levels. In this lesson, I will seek to teach patients the importance of regulating and watching their sugar levels. This lesson will aim at addressing the fifth objective. It will be practical and will begin with a ten-minute discussion, reviewing the previous lesson. Then, I will introduce in ten minutes the lesson by asking about the importance of glucose levels in a person’s lifestyle and their monitoring. Discussion of these questions will help patients understand the significance of measuring their blood glucose accurately. I will then demonstrate how clients can measure their glucose levels at home. For this, glucose-measuring pumps will be needed so that patients can see how they look like and how they should be used. I will explain different kinds of pumps clients can use and possible advantages and disadvantages associated with each pump. This explanation will last up to twenty minutes. During the remaining time, patients will measure their glucose levels using available pumps. I will go around making sure everyone is performing the procedure accordingly and helping those who are not. Patients will receive videos as a follow-up material in relation to this lesson.
The fifth lesson will dwell on diet change as a part of the new lifestyle. In this lesson, I will seek to provide patients with options of food they can eat, which will help moderate their sugar levels. During this lesson, I should be mindful of the client population and give examples and options that even those from low-income communities can afford. Examples relevant to only one group, for example, high-income communities, will render the lesson useless to others and cause them to stop paying attention. Like previous lessons, the lesson will begin with a review of the previous lesson, which will last ten minutes. After that, the half an hour will be devoted to the presentation of the new lesson. I will spend time explaining the importance of diet in the life of a diabetic patient. Furthermore, I will describe foods that one can eat and foods that should be removed from the diet. Afterward, patients will be divided into groups and a list of foods will be given to them. In ten minutes, they will discuss which foods should be removed and which can stay. Patients will write a ten-minute test at the end of the lesson, which will help assess clients and check an understanding of the presentation. Then, I will distribute pamphlets to patients as a follow-up material.
The sixth lesson will be a revision lesson of the previous lessons to see how much the patients have learned. I will use this lesson to evaluate the progress of the clients. In this lesson, problem-solving tasks will be given to patients to discuss. Patients will then give feedback and their conclusions. Comments and corrections will be made. This lesson will also be used to see how patients make use of their glucose pumps and their understanding of the importance of diet. Clients will measure their glucose while I will monitor. Patients will also show their understanding of diet importance by showing which foods they can include and which should be removed from the diet. I will assist those who need help.
The seventh lesson will focus on emergencies related to diabetes mellitus and first aid in such a situation. In this lesson, I will emphasize the importance of compliance with treatment to avoid an emergency. During first fifteen minutes, I will ask patients to name signs and symptoms of poor diabetes management and explain the difference between an emergency and poor management. Afterward, twenty-five minutes will be devoted to the demonstration of tactics to follow in an emergency. Patients will be divided into groups to solve a problem related to the topic covered. Ten-minute presentation of tactics will follow ten minutes of discussion. Then, I will distribute pamphlets and videos as a follow-up material.
The eighth lesson for patients will be on insulin therapy. In this lesson, I will seek to inform the patients about proper insulin administration and use. During this lesson, I will explain how insulin use affects the patient’s lifestyle and consequences patients will face if they fail to comply with the requirements of insulin use. I will then demonstrate how insulin administration into the body must be done and sites that can be used. I will make use of visual aids in the form of injections or insulin pumps. After the explanation and demonstration of how the insulin administration should be done, patients will practice techniques that they learned. I will go around monitoring if the procedure is done accordingly. At the end of the lesson, patients will receive pamphlets and videos.
Evaluation Methods
Evaluation methods will involve tests, which will include five questions that learners will have to answer at the end of lessons to assess whether they understood any of the presentations done during the lesson. In addition, observation will be another evaluation technique that will be used to evaluate learning. Evaluation of status upon checkup will also aid in the assessment whether the teaching was effective. Another form of evaluation will be through revision of the previous lesson before introducing the new one.
Documenting
At the end of the education session, I will need to document the teaching that took place and the areas and topics covered. This is for hospital records to prove that the teaching of that lesson happened. In the documentation, I will also include different comments patients made regarding the lesson and areas of improvement that are worth mentioning.
Conclusion
Educating clients on how they can live healthily with diabetes is a task that requires people with the right knowledge and skills. Here, the role of the nurse proves to be of great significance. The health and well-being of the patient are in the hands of the nurse. Client education is vital for the client to reduce the risk of readmission and decline of health. Knowledge of the client population assists in the structure and presentation of lessons. Learning objectives give the direction of teaching while the teaching plan helps plan out the order of deliverance. The evaluation assesses efficiency. These separate elements join up to form a complete picture, one that will not make sense if one element is not there.
