Care for Diabetic Client in Nursing Practice
Clients present various conditions to the clinical facility. They share the symptoms with the care providers to guide them during diagnosis and treatment processes. Additionally, patients share the medical history of their families, which is also utilized during diagnosis. However, clinicians do not rely on subjective data alone, but they conduct physical examination and diagnostics. These tests are being used during the diagnosis and development of a treatment plan for the patient. This paper will focus on a patient who was recently cared for in the nursing practice.Care for Diabetic Client in Nursing Practice
Mrs. M, 35 years old, an African American, visited the clinic three days ago. She complained of increased thirst, extreme hunger, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss. She also revealed that she had experienced fatigue, irritability, and blurred vision in the past three days. The presented symptoms necessitated the A1C test to measure the patient’s average blood sugar level in the past two months. This test was preferred since it does not require an individual to fast, unlike other diabetes tests such as fasting blood sugar tests and oral glucose tolerance test (Sherwani et al., 2016). Care for Diabetic Client in Nursing Practice
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The client associated her health condition with a family medical history. The client’s mother and her elder brother were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) ten and two years ago, respectively. Thus, she believed that a family history of diabetes was the primary cause of her health condition. Additionally, the client attributed her health condition with her racial background. According to Spears et al. (2018), the prevalence of T2DM is relatively high among African Americans than in other racial groups. In their study, Spears et al. (2018) reported that African Americans’ possibility to be diagnosed with T2DM is 1.7 times higher than non-Hispanic Whites. The prevalence of complications associated with T2DM is also high among African Americans than other races. This high incidence is attributed to lack of insurance covers, behavioral and clinical risk factors, and socioeconomic status of African Americans (Spears et al. (2018).
Her health literacy is relatively low since she ruled out other factors that could have increased the risk of diabetes. She concluded that her condition could only be caused by the history of T2DM in her family and her ethnicity, African American. She denied that her condition could have been triggered by other factors, such as her sedentary lifestyle. She does not engage in any physical exercise but instead spends most of her time sited in the office or watching TV and playing computer games at home during her free time.
The client was attended in a culturally competent way. Specifically, the culture and tradition of African Americans were recognized before the commencement of the treatment process. Consequently, a rapport will be established between the clinician and the patient triggering the client to open up during the treatment. Therefore, culturally competent care will improve the level of patient satisfaction and health outcomes.Care for Diabetic Client in Nursing Practice
The client who was treated in the clinical facility presented various symptoms, which are associated with diabetes. A1C test was conducted to confirm that the client had diabetes. She associated her condition with her family history and ethnicities. However, she denied that her sedentary lifestyle increased the risk of diabetes. Cultural competence was observed during care delivery. Embracing African Americans’ culture and tradition enhanced the establishment of rapport, which, in turn, improved patient satisfaction and health outcomes.
References
Sherwani, S. I., Khan, H. A., Ekhzaimy, A., Masood, A., & Sakharkar, M. K. (2016). Significance of HbA1c test in diagnosis and prognosis of diabetic patients. Biomarker Insights, 11, BMI-S38440.
Spears, E. C., Guidry, J. J., & Harvey, I. S. (2018). Measuring Type 2 diabetes mellitus knowledge and perceptions of risk in middle-class African Americans. Health Education Research, 33(1), 55-63.
Care for Diabetic Client in Nursing Practice