Structured diabetes education in Sweden : a national inquiry involving 583 nurses working with diabetes patients in hospitals and primary care facilities.

The overall goals for the treatment of diabetes are to prevent acute and long-term complications and maintain a good quality of life. The St Vincent Declaration and the Swedish National Guidelines for the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus describe patient education in self-treatment as a prerequisite for the achievement of these goals. This survey aimed to evaluate the presence of structured patient education (in advance planned education), its organisation, staffing and goals, and the results in out-patient diabetes care in Sweden.A questionnaire consisting of 35 open and closed questions was mailed to 1250 diabetes educated nurses working in hospitals and primary health care in the entire country.Responses were received from 583 (47%) nurses. Structured diabetes patient education was performed by 486 nurses. It was usually organised by nurses and performed in co-operation with doctors (55%), dietitians (38%), chiropodists (36%), and social workers (9%). The sessions took place individually at pre-scheduled visits (80%), or as group education (26%). Fifty-one percent described explicit goals for the education, most commonly: general knowledge about diabetes, improved metabolic control and increased safety. The structured education was evaluated by 51% of which the HbA[1]c level at the next scheduled visit was the most frequently used evaluation method (44%), followed by home monitored blood glucose values (37%) and a structured evaluation form (17%). The goals had been achieved to a great or quite great extent by 67% of the responding nurses.To the extent that structured patient education takes place, nurses are usually responsible for its performance. It takes place individually as well as in groups. Many nurses lack evident goals for the education and sufficient evaluation methods.It was concluded that there is confusion about the content of structured education vs information activity