Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Pamela Rodriguez-Diaz

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease that affects over 34.2 million or 10.5% of the U.S. population and ranks as the seventh leading cause of death. Tennessee's diabetes prevalence rate is ranked 45th overall in the nation, with 14.9% of the population affected, and in the local area for this project, the rate is greater than 15%, creating a public health concern. Despite its prevalence, there is still a wide gap in knowledge among nurses on diabetes management. The practice-focused question for this project addressed whether a staff education program would improve nurses' knowledge regarding diabetes. The significant gap in practice addressed in the doctoral project involved nurses' knowledge. This Doctor of Nursing Practice project was guided by Knowles's adult learning theory (andragogy). This theory was relevant to guide this project to educate the staff nurses to improve their knowledge and positively affect the care environment. This project used the Walden Staff Education Manual to guide learning to improve knowledge regarding diabetes among the nursing fraternity. The Revised Diabetes Knowledge Test, which consisted of 23 validated questions, was the instrumentation used to validate the pre-/post knowledge assessment of the participants. The project involved N = 21 participants who were RNs and LPNs. The posttest mean score (M = 88.03%; SD = 8.77) was higher than the pretest score (M = 66.58%; SD = 10.21), supporting the conclusion that knowledge was garnered from the education presented. The literature has shown that nurses who are well educated in diabetes care are essential in providing the best possible outcome for patients. This project's aim was to address a significant gap in practice identified in this practice environment and to positively affect social change.

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