Diabetes management unawareness: what do bedside nurses know?

Background: Nurses are responsible for critical aspects of diabetes care.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine nurses' knowledge of inpatient diabetes management principles before and after a structured diabetes education program.

Methods: In this descriptive, correlation study, 2250 registered nurses working in a quaternary health care center completed a 20 question assessment. The assessment was administered pre and post attendance at a 4hour diabetes management course.

Findings: Nurses' knowledge of inpatient diabetes management principles was low. There was no correlation between knowledge scores and age, education, employment status, years of experience or clinical specialty.

Conclusions: In general, our findings suggest that nurses do not feel comfortable and are not adequately prepared to make patient care decisions or provide survival skill education for patients with diabetes in the hospital.