Answer for NURS 8502 Week 2 Assignment 3 Identify a Gap in Practice

Answer for NURS 8502 Week 2 Assignment 3 Identify a Gap in Practice

Diabetic ulcer is the most devastating diabetes complication. It often results in end-stage morbidities such as lower-limb amputations, reduced quality of life, shortened lifespan, and increased social and economic burden. About 14-24% of patients who develop diabetic ulcers end up with lower extremity amputation (Lin et al., 2019). Diabetic ulcer continues to be a major medical and public health issue as the incidence and comorbidities rise every day. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the gap in practice with regard to Diabetic ulcers and the activities that I will lead to support the gap in practice or practice change.

Gap in Practice

Although diabetic patients at the clinical site facility are provided patient education materials on foot care and examined by podiatrists, the issue of diabetic ulcers persists. The incidence of diabetic ulcers and associated morbidities continue to increase in the facility resulting in high healthcare costs and poor health outcomes. The challenge can be attributed to inadequate knowledge and skills among nurses and clinicians on managing diabetic ulcers. Abate et al. (2020) assert that insufficient knowledge and non-favorable attitude by nurses and clinicians towards diabetes ulcer care compromises health care standard diabetes care. Health providers need to be equipped with knowledge and skills to identify early symptoms of diabetic ulcers, assess comorbidities, and provide appropriate therapeutic interventions (Abate et al., 2020). As such, there is a need to equip them with sufficient knowledge and skills on the prevention and management of diabetic ulcers to lower the incidence and mitigate the morbidities associated with the complication.

Activities to Support the Gap in Practice or Practice Change

The main activity that I will lead in addressing the gap in the management of diabetic ulcers is to train nurses and clinicians on the management of diabetic ulcers. The activity aims to improve their knowledge and skills in managing patients with diabetic ulcers. Innes-Walker et al. (2019) found that training and coaching health professionals on diabetic ulcer management increased their confidence in managing wounds. Besides, training empowered nurses’ decision-making process and increased their assessment knowledge, resulting in a positive impact on patient outcomes.

Nurses and clinicians will be educated on various aspects of prevention and management of diabetic ulcers, including: Providing health education on foot care; Assessing patients for ulcers, Identifying early signs of diabetic ulcers; Wound-dressing; Therapeutic interventions; Assessing comorbidities; Referrals. A pre-intervention questionnaire will be administered to the nurses and clinicians to identify areas on which the training program will focus. A post-intervention questionnaire will also be administered to measure the impact of the training in enhancing the providers’ knowledge and skills.

Conclusion

Diabetic ulcer is one of the most adverse diabetes complications and the leading cause of lower-limb amputations among diabetic patients. The identified gap in practice at the clinical site is inadequate knowledge and skills among nurses and clinicians on managing diabetic ulcers. The gap will be addressed by educating nurses and clinicians on preventing and managing diabetic ulcers.

References

Abate, T. W., Enyew, A., Gebrie, F., & Bayuh, H. (2020). Nurses’ knowledge and attitude towards diabetes foot care in Bahir Dar, North West Ethiopia. Heliyon, 6(11), e05552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05552