Practice nurses’ role and knowledge about diabetes management within rural and remote Australian general practices

Background: The increasing prevalence of diabetes and obesity represents a significant disease burden in Australia. Practice nurses (PNs) play an important role in diabetes education and management.Aim: To explore PNs’ roles, knowledge and beliefs about diabetes education and management in rural and remote general practice in Australia.Method: Exploratory study undertaken in three phases: 1) Pilot study to test the performance of the questionnaire; 2) One-shot cross-sectional survey using self-complete questionnaires; 3) Individual interviews.Results: Ten PNs completed the pilot test; the draft questionnaire was deemed appropriate to the study purpose. Then, 65 questionnaires were distributed to PNs and 21 responded. Fourteen respondents had worked in the role <5 years, and most PNs attended diabetes education programmes in their workplace. A minority (40%) used diabetes management guidelines regularly. Most knew obesity to be the most common risk factor for diabetes but only 50% knew that glycosylated haemoglobin indicates blood glucose levels over the preceding three months. Self-reported competency to assess patients’ self-care practices and medication management practices varied.Conclusion: PNs’ diabetes management was self-reported; their knowledge varied and their perceived benefits of diabetes education differed from those of patients.