Nursing needs for patients with diabetes disease at orthopedic wards - a cross-sectional study

Aims and objectives: The purpose of the study was to identify which nursing needs patients with diabetes diagnose have at an orthopedic care ward. Background: Patients with diabetes diagnose have in previous studies shown to have an increased fracture risk compared to the general population and therefore have been a common patient group at orthopedic wards. Orthopedic surgery has been estimated to be optimized so that the patient's general condition was not affected. Instead, the quality of the nursing work affect the mortality, length of the hospital stay, the return to the home and future ability for daily activities. Design: A retroperspective descriptive cross-sectional study Methods: Data was collected according to preset review protocol from digital hospital records. Descriptive statistics were displayed as frequencies and percentages. Results: High prevalence of pain and risk for malnutrition was seen. Many patients showed also lack of self care skills after orthopedic surgery. The usage time for urinary catheterization was long. Increasing prevalence of pressure ulcers and constipation were seen. Conclusions: Commonly for all nursing needs seen is that registered nurses may be able to make changes throw review of guidelines, usage indications, availability of preventive measures and education of patients and also other medical team members. Further steps are also needed to be taken to ensure quality and adequate content in nursing documentation. Relevance to clinical practise: This study describes common nursing needs for patients with diabetes diagnoses at orthopaedic inpatients wards. The result can be used as a baseline for improvement of work for this patient group within the examined clinic as well as for other orthopaedic clinics in Sweden and abroad. Keywords: diabetes mellitus, orthopedic nursing, perioperative nursing, pain, urinary catheterization, constipation, pressure ulcers, glycated hemoglobin