CHALLENGES OF NURSES IN MANAGING TYPE II DIABETES MELLITUS AT THE HOLY FAMILY HOSPITAL, TECHIMAN B/A.

ABSTRACT

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease that occurs when the human body is not able to produce

enough of the hormone insulin or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced. It is

estimated that 6.3% Ghanaians are affected with diabetes of which 90 – 95% are with Type II

diabetes. In Ghana however, there are limited trained staff as well as inadequate equipment to

provide quality care to people living with diabetes. This study therefore explored the challenges

of nurses in managing Type II diabetes patients and ways to improve the care rendered to these

patients. The study sought to identify the problems nurses face in managing patients living with

Type II DM, to determine what nurses do to deal with these challenges, to determine the perceived

effects of these challenges on Type II DM patients, to explore nurses’ role in DM management, to

identify factors that motivate nurses to manage DM patients and to identify ways to improve DM

care. An exploratory descriptive research design was used to conduct this study at the Holy Family

Hospital, Techiman, B/A. A semi-structured interview guide with six main questions was used to

conduct 14 in-depth interviews for registered general nurses. All interviews were conducted in

English language between November 2015 and March 2016 and lasted between 8 and 26 minutes.

The data gathered was analysed with Creswell approach to qualitative data analysis and the key

findings were: lack of glucometers, bad glucometers, high cost of diabetes care, lack of nurses’

knowledge in diabetes care and patients’ non-adherence to treatment regimen. The study has

shown that, nurses encounter difficulties in providing care for patients living with diabetes and

these compromise quality care. It has also revealed ways to improve care for diabetes patients to

be considered by policy makers to ensure the provision of quality care and prevent complications

associated with diabetes. It is recommended that, further research on the challenges of nurses in

managing diabetes patients should be conducted at multiple sites for generalization of findings.