Nursing teaching plan development and implementation

Teaching Plan

Nursing teaching plan

Teaching plan: Patient with diabetes

Patient Maria G. is a thirty-two-year-old Latina female recently diagnosed with type II diabetes. She is the single mother of a young boy, Luis, who has been flagged as being pre-diabetic. The teaching plan for Maria G. will educate her about the potential consequences of diabetes and empower her with knowledge so she can improve her diet and exercise habits, with the hope of minimizing the need to rely upon insulin injections to manage her condition.

The objectives of the teaching plan are as follows:

The patient will be able to understand and describe her specific types of diabetes.

The patient will be able to name and describe the specific type or types of diabetes medications she has been prescribed, how to take them, and how she intends to fit the dosage into her lifestyle.

The patient will be able to perform proper self-monitoring of blood glucose using a blood glucose meter and will be able to inject herself with the appropriate dose of insulin.

4. The patient will be able to explain why diet modifications are necessary for diabetics and the benefits of healthy exercise. She will be able to describe how she will be able to integrate such modifications into her current lifestyle (Diehl 2010)

Maria G. has type II diabetes, which is developed later in life in most instances, although modern medicine is seeing earlier and earlier cases of diabetes. The fact that she is Latina makes her especially high-risk. With type II diabetes, "the body does not produce enough insulin for proper function, or the cells in the body do not react to insulin (insulin resistance).

Approximately 90% of all cases of diabetes worldwide are of this type" (All about diabetes, 2012, Medical News Today: What is diabetes).

If caught soon enough, diabetes can sometimes be kept in check with modifications in diet and exercise alone. Maria G. is approximately 20 pounds overweight. Depending upon the metabolism and genetic history of the patient, weight and dietary choices can have a more or less severe effect upon different patients. It has been determined that given the degree to which the disease has progressed, Maria G. should begin using insulin to control her blood sugar. Insulin is the most common medication used to treat diabetics. Maria G. needs to understand precisely what her particular type of diabetes is and why insulin is needed to treat it, as well as how to administer insulin to herself by injection.

Asking Maria to repeat what the nurse has said in her own words and describing the medication, its risks, and also the risks of not taking insulin when needed are important components of an effective teaching plan. Regarding the insulin injections, having Maria practice on an orange after watching the nurse demonstrate how to do so, watching the nurse perform injections on others, and finally under supervision performing the injections herself are all part of patient 'mastery' of the process. She should also know the type of insulin she has been prescribed (fast-acting, regular acting, or another kind) to understand how long it will take to be effective in stabilizing her blood sugar (All about diabetes, 2012, Medical News Today: Diabetes treatment -- taking insulin).

Effective self-monitoring is critical for diabetics. One of the most difficult things for diabetics is the need to know how to ensure they are taking just enough insulin -- not too much or too little. Exercise, the amount of carbohydrates in different foods, time of day, and many other factors can affect blood glucose level. Too much insulin can cause a serious condition called hypoglycemia, which is just as dangerous as too much (hyperglycemia). The patient must also know how to use a glucose meter. "When you want to test for glucose with a glucose meter you need to place a small sample of your blood on a test strip. Your skin is pricked with a lancet - like a very fast pin-prick…The meter tells you how much glucose is present in your blood" (All about diabetes, 2012, Medical News Today: How is diabetes managed).

Patients must know what to do if they take too much or too little insulin. For hypoglycemia, patients should ingest something with sugar as quickly as possible, such as glucose tablets, fruit juice, or candy (All about diabetes, 2012, Medical News Today: Hypoglycemia). For hyperglycemia, this may mean the dose and type of insulin is no longer as effective as it once was, and the patient's regime may need to be reformed (All about diabetes, 2012, Medical News Today: Hyperglycemia).