Diabetes Treatment Guidelines and Nurses’ Adherence to Them: A Case of the UK and Kuwait

Background: The management of diabetes requires new models of care, of which nurses have been identified as key players. It is observed that adequate preparation and proper guidance of nurses with knowledge and skills in diabetes care is important for their care role. It is also essential that nurses use evidence to inform their care role towards diabetes patients, which can be achieved through using up-to-date guidelines on diabetes care and treatment. However, it is not clear how guidelines inform the nursing diabetes care role and to what extent nurses use the guidelines in diabetes care. This article reports findings from a review of guidelines on the role of nurses in diabetes care, and how nurses adopt these guidelines in patient care. Methods: The study adopted a case study approach, in which two cases (the United Kingdom and Kuwait) were involved. We reviewed local, national and international guidelines that inform the role of nurses in diabetes care. Following analysis of the findings from the guidelines, we compared the prescribed roles of nurses in diabetes care as informed by the guidelines against those performed in practice. Findings: In total, eight guidelines were reviewed, four from each case. The findings revealed a number of roles that guide diabetes nursing care including: patient assessment, patient education, providing patient-centred care, promoting self-care, prescription role, team work, and adapting diabetes care to local needs. The findings showed that nurses utilise the guidelines to guide their work of nursing diabetes patients and while doing this, they take into consideration the individual needs of their patients. Conclusions: The study concluded that guidelines on diabetes care are essential in the provision of patient focused care, hence the need for their adoption in all healthcare settings. It is important that the guidelines provide specific roles for the different practitioners, and be flexible to adequately address the needs of the patients. Further research is essential to assess the application of international, national, and local guidelines and how their application influence diabetes care delivery