Information and credits

Who is this learning for?

This learning resource is relevant to all registered nurses, student nurses, midwives and health visitors, health care assistants (HCAs) and assistant practitioners working in any health care setting or nursing specialism. The aim is to provide you with an overview of diabetes and to provide some guidelines on treating patients with this condition as part of the nursing team. There are also some scenarios that look at different situations involving diabetes.

This learning has been designed to be flexible. You may view the entire resource in one sitting if you wish (an estimated minimum of one hour will be required), or you can view each section in turn over a number of sessions. The sections can be viewed independently of each other, however we would recommend they are completed in the order they appear in the left-hand navigation structure.

Learning outcomes

After completing the sections in this learning, the learner should be able to:

Explain the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Describe the tests that need to be done to diagnose diabetes.
Identify three common signs and symptoms of diabetes.
Explain the long term effects of the non treatment of diabetes.
Describe three ways to support a person to self manage their diabetes.
Describe what to do in an emergency situation (hypoglycaemic or hyperglycaemic episode) involving a person with diabetes.

Principles of Nursing Practice

The eight RCN Principles of Nursing Practice can be applied to this learning resource however, the principles that feature most predominantly are:

Principle D - providing and promoting care that puts people at the centre.
Principle E - communicating effectively: assessing, recording and reporting on treatment and care, and are conscientious in reporting issues of concern.
Principle F - having up-to-date knowledge and skills.

These principles provide a useful framework for writing a reflective record of your learning. You may also think of ways you can draw on the remaining principles based on your own clinical experience and observations.

Relevant KSF dimensions

The learning in this resource directly maps onto the following two areas of the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework:

Core 2 - Personal and people development
Information and Knowledge 3 - Knowledge and information resources

Development team

This learning area was developed by Louise Cox.
Animations and interactive elements were developed by John Heseltine BSc (Hons) and George Reith.

Reviewers

Thanks to the following people for their review of the materials in this learning area:

Amanda Cheesley, Long Terms Conditions Adviser, Royal College of Nursing
Susan Down, Nurse Consultant Diabetes, MSc, RGN, NMP, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Member of Healthcare Professional Council of Diabetes UK and Board Member of the Forum for Injection Technique (FIT)
Tanis Hand, Health Care Assistant Adviser, Royal College of Nursing
June James, Nurse Consultant Diabetes, RGN, BA, MSc, Dipl Nursing, Nurse Independent Prescriber, University Hospitals of Leicester, NHS Trust. Clinical Nurse Advisor (Patient Safety) NHS Diabetes and TREND-UK Co-Chair
Grace Vanterpool, Consultant Nurse, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Diabetes Intermediate Service. Co-Chair of TREND-UK. MBE ,RGN postgrad Diploma Diabetes working on MBA Health Service Management & NMP
Vivienne Evans, Communication Officer, Royal College of Nursing

Confidentiality

The Learning Zone upholds the principles of confidentiality and anonymity. We would like to thank the models, actors and others who allowed their images to be used in this learning area. Some of the scenarios are based on real events however, names and identifiable information of people and places have been changed except for those already in the public domain or where an individual has given permission for the Learning Zone to present a real life account.