Development of a Nursing Care Manual to Improve the Knowledge of Nurses Caring for Hospitalized Patients with Diabetes

Nurses have a responsibility to ensure that they have adequate knowledge in order to provide competent care. A wide literature search failed to identify adequate documentation of the specific nursing care of people with diabetes, although the medical aspects are covered in detail. In addition, several papers document a deficiency of knowledge among nurses about diabetes and the appropriate care of patients with diabetes. This project sought to address the apparent lack of documentation. The aim was to formulate a Manual of Nursing Care of People with Diabetes Mellitus (the manual), to be used as a self-directed learning resource in the clinical setting. This article reports the development and evaluation of the manual.