How to Approach to Patients with Diabetes : From the Viewpoint of a Nurse(Treating and Understanding Patients with Diabetes)

Abstract

The objectives of diabetes management are to reduce symptoms of diabetes, to prevent development or progression of diabetic complications and disease conditions associated with diabetes, and to enable affected individuals to maintain their quality of life (QOL) and life expectancy comparable to those seen in healthy individuals (excerpt from Evidence-based Practice Guideline for the Treatment for Diabetes in Japan 2013). Nurses often approach patients with diabetes to focus on the enhancement of their self-management ability to improve glycemic control. However, it often results in a refusal of intervention by nurses or no obvious effect of education in clinical practice. Here, I would like to discuss the effective way of approach to patients with diabetes from the viewpoint of nurse through my experience as a nurse specializing in diabetes.