Title : Person-centred caring experiences of registered nurses while managing foot care for patients with type 2 diabetes in a rural district of Northern Kwazulu-Natal
Abstract:
Background: The five-year mortality rate after a diabetic foot amputation is higher than 40% globally. In KwaZulu-Natal, 2500 diabetic foot amputations are carried out per year. Only 7.8% of diabetic patients undergo foot examinations within KwaZulu-Natal public health, while 90% are not educated about foot care. Person-centeredness and caring can potentially improve foot care outcomes for patients with diabetes.
Aim & Objectives: To describe registered nurses' experiences of person-centred caring in managing the foot care of patients with type 2 diabetes. To explore current practices of registered nurses regarding the foot care of patients with type 2 diabetes.
Methodology: A mixed-methods-convergent design is used for the study. During the qualitative phase of the study, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted with registered nurses working at primary health care clinics. Data was collected in rural district within KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. One in-town clinic and two out-of-town clinics were selected from each sub-district for data collection. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the semi-structured interviews.
Results / Findings: The central theme of the study is that the registered nurses feel they are nursing the queues. They think patients with diabetes and their foot care get neglected. As a result, these patients don’t attend clinics and relatives are sent to collect medication. Registered nurses are rushing to “push” the long queues of integrated chronic patients. Nursing care gets neglected due to staff shortages, non-conduciveness of facilities and a lack of training.
Recommendations and Conclusion: There is a need for an in-service training program that considers the district’s rurality. A scoping review was done to find evidence-based solutions to these challenges, which was incorporated into the training program. This training will have to equip registered nurses with the knowledge to implement person-centred caring while managing the foot care of patients with diabetes.
Audience Take Away:
- The audience will gain insight in the challenges that registered nurses face in diabetic foot care management in a rural area of a developing country.
- The audience might identify with these challenges.
- The presenter will discuss these challenges that the registered nurses encountered. Evidence based solutions that resulted from a scoping review to these challenges will be discussed. The person-centred caring diabetic foot care in-service training programme can give guidance on diabetic foot care management in rural areas.
