Discussion: Implementation Plan for a Nurse Educator in Geriatric Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
Discussion: Implementation Plan for a Nurse Educator in Geriatric Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
The implementation plan will aim at teaching the geriatric patients on hypoglycemia, its causes, symptoms, and prevention and management measures. To start with, the nurse will explain to diabetic patients that hypoglycemia is a low blood glucose level. It occurs when one administers high levels of insulin than the body requires or when one takes a high dose of glucose-lowering drugs (Jafari & Britton, 2016). The patient will also be enlightened that the intake of small amounts of food, missing meals, and engaging in vigorous physical activities can cause hypoglycemia.
ORDER A CUSTOMIZED, PLAGIARISM-FREE Discussion: Implementation Plan for a Nurse Educator in Geriatric Patients with Type 2 Diabetes HERE
Good News For Our New customers . We can write this assignment for you and pay after Delivery. Our Top -rated medical writers will comprehensively review instructions , synthesis external evidence sources(Scholarly) and customize a quality assignment for you. We will also attach a copy of plagiarism report alongside and AI report. Feel free to chat Us
Secondly, the nurse educator will discuss with the patient the symptoms that he/she can identify when the blood glucose level is low. The presentation includes mild hypoglycemia symptoms such as hunger, sweating, tremors, heart palpitations, and nervousness (Jafari & Britton, 2016). Symptoms of moderate hypoglycemia such as headache, double vision, lips and tongue numbness, dizziness, drowsiness, and impaired coordination will also form part of the discussion (Jahromi, Ramezanli & Taheri, 2015). Lastly, the nurse will highlight on the symptoms of severe hypoglycemia such as seizures, disoriented behavior, difficulty waking up, and loss of consciousness.
Moreover, the Strategies on prevention of hypoglycemia during self-management will be emphasized by the nurse educator. A majority of geriatric patients have decreased visual acuity related to retinopathy, cataracts, or aging. Consequently, they may make errors when self-administering insulin by withdrawing a higher dosage than the recommended one resulting in abnormally low blood glucose (Jafari & Britton, 2016). Thus, the nurse educator will recommend patients to purchase boldly-marked insulin syringes that they can easily see even with poor vision. They can also be advised to seek assistance and administer in a well-lit room.
[elementor-template id="165244"]A majority of geriatrics have a poor memory and may forget to have meals and medications; therefore, the nurse educator will recommend to them to set alarms to remind them to eat and take drugs. For instance, a meal should be taken within 15 minutes of administration of aspart or lispro insulin, and delaying to have a meal could lead to hypoglycemia (Jafari & Britton, 2016. The nurse with a patient on aspart or lispro will advise the latter to set the first alarm at the insulin administration time and a second one after 10 minutes for reminder to take meals. In addition, the nurse will recommend to the patients to set reminders during the scheduled time for having meals and snacks to avoid delays in eating.
Patients having type 2 diabetes are recommended to regularly have their blood glucose levels monitored (Chrvala, Sherr, & Lipman, 2016). Nonetheless, geriatric patients may lack the skills to test blood glucose on their own. Thus, the nurse educator will train them on how to test the blood sugar level and interpret the results if they are normal, very low, or very high. Furthermore, the patients will be advised to have strict blood glucose monitoring if they cannot recognize hypoglycemia symptoms.
Health education will further comprise of the strategies the diabetic patients can use to manage hypoglycemia. A nurse educator will advise a patient to take a simple source of carbohydrates such as fruit juice, glucose tablets, regular soda, or honey. However, patients will be cautioned against adding sugar to fruit juice since they may experience hyperglycemia caused by a very high rise in blood glucose (Jahromi, Ramezanli, & Taheri, 2015). Moreover, the nurse will advise avoidance of foods having high calories and fats such as desserts, since the fat content delays glucose absorption and symptoms fail to resolve fast.
Lastly, the nurse educator will advise diabetic geriatric patients to always carry carbohydrate snacks such as sodas, crackers, candies, and honey when traveling in case they have hypoglycemia. Furthermore, they will be advised to have medical identification bands that inform others that they have diabetes (Chrvala, Sherr, & Lipman, 2016). Identification bands are useful in cases of medical emergencies such as severe hypoglycemia when the patient has a low level of consciousness.
References
Chrvala, C. A., Sherr, D., & Lipman, R. D. (2016). Diabetes self-management education for adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review of the effect on glycemic control. Patient education and counseling, 99(6), 926-943.
Jafari, B., & Britton, M. E. (2016). Clinical pharmacy: Hypoglycemia in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a review of risk factors, consequences, and prevention. AJP: The Australian Journal of Pharmacy, 97(1147), 71.
Jahromi, M. K., Ramezanli, S., & Taheri, L. (2015). Effectiveness of diabetes self-management education on quality of life in diabetic elderly females. Global journal of health science, 7(1), 10.
[elementor-template id="165244"]