Nurses Experience of Care for the Elderly Patients with Diabetes

Abstract

According to the reports of WHO, diabetes was the direct cause of 1.5 million deaths globally in 2012. Among people suffering from diabetes in the world, almost half of those who die due to high blood sugar are before the age of 70. The high incidence of diabetes in the elderly has continued to increase, and the care for these patients is also facing severe challenges. This research summarized the experience of nurses caring for older people with diabetes. The study was implemented as a literature review. The data was searched using CINAHL article database. Overall, five articles were chosen to be reviewed. Content analysis was applied in the analysis of the data. Nurses’ experiences in caring for older patients with diabetes can be classified into four main themes: training and education for nurses, work experience, communication and cooperation among care providers, and patient’s health condition. In conclusion, nurses who did not receive enough professional training were not aware of the risks and complications of diabetes, resulting in inadequate care. Also, as a result of lack information and confidence for nurses, the quality of care for elderly patient with diabetes was in danger. Therefore, more approaches of solving the problems need to be done. Moreover, coordination of caring among professionals still need to be improved in order to enhance their ability of nursing care for diabetes patients