Non‐specialist nursing knowledge of diabetes management: Assessment and education

We have recently examined the diabetes-related information carried by hospital-based and community nurses. To do this we utilised questionnaires designed to assess patient knowledge of either IDD or NIDD. Identical questionnaires, covering only essential information required by patients to manage diabetes mellitus adequately, were answered before and following a half-day symposium for nurses on diabetes mellitus. Twenty-nine nurses answering the questionnaires on IDD responded correctly to 16.1 ± 3.2 questions out of a possible 24. After the symposium the score increased significantly to 19.7 ± 2.5, p < 0.001. Forty-five nurses responding to the NIDD questionnaires gave 15.7 ± 2.0 correct answers out of a possible 20. Following the symposium this score increased to 17.2 ± 1.9 correct responses, p < 0.001. Therefore, the nurse participants in this study demonstrated deficits of 31% for IDD and 21.5% for NIDD in essential diabetes information. Since only basic information was assessed, it is clear that the nurses did not have adequate information to usefully or safely contribute in the management of diabetic patients.