Knowledge and self-assessment of general practitioner nurses in the area of diabetes mellitus

Abstract

In general practitioners’ offices (GPOs), nurses care for patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), too. Goal: Our goal was to find the amount of knowledge and the level of self-assessment of nurses in GPOs in connection to persons with DM, and to analyze the relationships between the dependent variable (overall level of knowledge about DM) and selected independent variables. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of nurses in 2018. A 64-item questionnaire was used to collect the data; a part of which was a standardized Rev. Diabetes Knowledge Test (revDKT). Within the data analysis, regression analysis was conducted in exploratory regime. Results: A total of 237 nurses (working in GPOs) took part in the study (average age 38 ± 10.6). Within the analysis, the overall level of self-assessment was taken as a mean from 25 items assessed on a scale of 1–5; the smaller the value, the more positive the self-assessment. In our case the mean was 3.35. Within the analysis, the overall level of general knowledge of DM was taken as a sum of points from a total of 33 knowledge items (43 points max). The respondents averaged 22 points, which represents a 51% success rate on the test. A college education (either three or five years) had the greatest influence on the overall level of knowledge. Conclusions: There are nurses with varying professional qualifications, education, and job titles working in GPOs. The self-assessment and overall knowledge score connected to DM of the groups being compared (practical nurses and other) is rather low. To increase the competencies of nurses in GPOs, it is necessary to inform general practitioners of nurse categories, and ensure further education of nurses in the area of DM.