Article Sidebar
Published:
Mar 20, 2008Keywords:
Article Details
The author(s) retain copyright on work published by AOSIS unless specified otherwise.
Licensing and publication rights
Author(s) of work published by AOSIS are required to grant AOSIS the unlimited rights to publish the definitive work in any format, language and medium, for any lawful purpose. AOSIS requires journal authors to publish their work in open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
The authors retain the non-exclusive right to do anything they wish with the published article(s), provided attribution is given to the applicable journal with details of the original publication, as set out in the official citation of the article published in the journal. The retained right specifically includes the right to post the article on the authors’ or their institution’s websites or in institutional repositories.
Previously published work may have been published under a different licence. We advise the community that if they would like to reuse the work to consult the applicable licence at article level.
Note: If you need to comply with your funding body policy, you can apply for the CC BY license after your manuscript is accepted for publication.
Main Article Content
National guidelines for the management of Diabetes Mellitus: A nursing perspective
Abstract
Since 1994, the emphasis in the provision of health services in South Africa has shifted from hospital-based care to a community-based comprehensive primary health care system, especially important in the management of chronic diseases, such as Diabetes Mellitus (DM). The incidence of DM is rapidly increasing on a global basis according to the World Health Organization, resulting in the development of evidence-based guidelines for control and management of diabetes mellitus in many countries around the world. The aim of these guidelines is to provide optimal care for patients as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, facilitate the early detection of the condition and to provide a framework for patient education, essential for self-management and self-monitoring of the condition.
Registered nurses play an extremely important role in the management of patients with DM. In this study, the views of registered nurses on the national guidelines for the control and management of DM (Type 2) were explored and described and methods of facilitating the implementation of the national guidelines in practice were identified. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual approach was used. Registered nurses who participated in this study had definite positive views on the guidelines, were satisfied with the content of the guidelines and viewed them as an effective contribution to the management of DM, if implemented correctly. However, the participants identified
several factors hindering the effective implementation of the guidelines. Recommendations to assist registered nurses in the implementation and utilisation of the national guidelines for the management of DM were constructed.
Keywords: diabetes mellitus; national guidelines; primary health care; registered nurse; outpatient departments
Health SA Gesondheid Vol. 11 (4) 2006: pp. 32-46
