The Role of Nurses in Diabetes Management and Physical Activity

This report investigates the crucial role of nurses in managing diabetes, particularly focusing on the impact of physical exercise on patient outcomes. The study addresses the research question of how nurses contribute to diabetes control and the effects of physical activity. It highlights the prevalence of diabetes in the United States and emphasizes the necessity of effective management strategies. The report employs a quantitative method, using surveys to assess patients' awareness and nurses' responsibilities regarding physical activity. Findings underscore the importance of nurses in educating patients about the benefits of exercise, promoting awareness, and encouraging active participation in physical activities to manage blood glucose levels. The conclusion emphasizes the significance of nurses in diabetes management, supported by evidence from the American Diabetes Association, and the Nursing and Midwifery Board, and other research studies.

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES
MANAGEMENT OF DIABETES
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Introduction:
According to the CDC (2019), the occurrence rate of diabetes in the United States is 30.3
million in the year 2015, which is around 9.4% of the total population. It is estimated that around
1.25 million of the total population is suffering from type 1 diabetes. The highest rate of diabetes
is observed in case of adults and children. It is observed that diabetes can lead to other adverse
effects. According to Boonsatean et al. (2016), diabetes can never be cured but can lead to
remission. Hence, it is essential to manage diabetes in order to avoid any further health
deterioration. The report focusses on the part of healthcare staff and the nurses in the
management of diabetes with the help of physical exercise. The discussion includes the research
question, the problem statement, methods and the literature search to evaluate the effectiveness
of the physical exercise.
Research question:
“What is the role of nurses in diabetes control and measurement of the effects of physical
activity in controlling diabetes rate among the patients?
Problem statement:
Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases among the population of the United States
and to manage that the patient had to survive om medication (American Diabetes Association,
2016). One of the most effective way to manage diabetes is by increasing the involvement in the
physical exercise. However, major demographic population are not well aware of the
management strategy. Hence, it is the role of the nurse to educate or create awareness among the

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diabetic patient regarding the efficiency of the physical exercise in diabetes and along with that
they should also encourage the patient to involve in different physical activity.
Methods:
Quantitative method is defined as the method which primarily focusses on the unbiased
measurement of the data and it contains the statistical, numerical, mathematical examination of
the data which is composed by the help of the surveys, interview and questionnaire (Buelo et al.,
2019).
To evaluate the effectiveness of the physical exercise surveys are conducted among the
patient who are suffering from diabetes. The respondents who are suffering from diabetes and
the nurse who take care of the diabetic patient are selected as respondents. Questionnaires are
distributed among the respondents. The questionnaire which is distributed among the patient
evaluates their awareness regarding the efficiency of physical activity in the handling of the
diabetes. The questionnaire which is distributed among the nurse involves their role and
responsibility of the nurse in the management of diabetes by the help of the physical exercise.
Data that has been collected from the conducted survey is analyzed further to evaluate the
roles and responsibilities of the nurse in the management of diabetes by the help of the physical
exercise.
Discussion:
Nursing is demarcated as thee profession which aims to provide quality care to the patient
and enhancing the health outcome of the patient. According to the code of conduct of nursing

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formulated by the Nursing and Midwifery board (2019), it is the responsibility of the nurse to
provide the best evidence based treatment to the patient. In the case of diabetes also the nurse
should provide effective treatment to the patient in order to manage the blood sugar level of the
patient. Rendering the Libiseller et al. (2018), in the geriatric patient, involvement in the physical
activity poses positive impact on the health of the individual. It aid in managing the glucose level
of the body as well as also helps in the management of the moving disability, which is common
in case of geriatric patient. Hence, in order to do that, the nurse should educate the geriatric
individual and their family member about the correlation between physical activity and the
management of diabetes.
Nurse should gather information regarding the types of physical activity and its effects on
the patient, who is suffering from diabetes and after evaluating the effect they should suggest the
best among all the interventions to the diabetic patient for their effective treatment (Bodenheimer
& Bauer, 2016). Diabetes also contributes in the enhancement of the death and in the reduction
of life expectancy rate. Hence, by creating awareness about physical activity, nurse will be able
to reduce the death rate as well increase the life expectancy rate.
According to the Powers et al. (2017), physical activity helps in lowering the blood
pressure and along with that it also helps in increasing the insulin resistance into the body thus
by reducing the adverse effect of diabetes. Exercise such as walking and aerobic exercise lowers
the blood glucose level of the patient, decreases the level of harmful LDL, triglycerides and
cholesterol in the body and reduces anxiety which are the signs and symptoms of the diabetes. It
is the role of the diabetic nurse to evaluate the best strategy that can be used for the effective
management of the diabetes. Physical activity helps in the effective assessment of the diabetes.
According to the Munshi et al. (2016), the involvement in the physical activity is the self-

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handling strategy for the management of diabetes. It is the role of the diabetic nurse to educate
the patient about the prominence of the physical activity in the diabetes. To create sentience
among the nurse should use different communication strategy to make an effective rapport with
the patient, so that they can convince the patient to involve in different physical activity in order
to lower the blood glucose level (Milani & Lavie, 2015).
Conclusion:
From the above discussion it is concluded that diabetes is one of the most prevalent
disease and is common among the individual of all age group. It is observed that active
involvement of the diabetic patient in the physical movement helps in the effective controlling of
the diabetes. Nurses play an significant part in this by encouraging the patient to involve in the
physical activity after creating awareness among them about the efficiency of physical activity in
controlling the diabetes. In order to evaluate the role of nurses, a survey has been conducted
among the nurses as well as among the diabetic patient and the data is analyzed.

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Reference:
American Diabetes Association. (2016). 2. Classification and diagnosis of diabetes. Diabetes
care, 39(Supplement 1), S13-S22.
Bodenheimer, T., & Bauer, L. (2016). Rethinking the primary care workforce—an expanded role
for nurses. New England journal of medicine, 375(11), 1015-1017.
Boonsatean, W., Carlsson, A., Östman, M., & Rosner, I. D. (2016). Living with diabetes: experiences of
inner and outer sources of beliefs in women with low socioeconomic status. Global journal of
health science, 8(8), 200.
Buelo, A. K., Kirk, A., Lindsay, R. S., & Jepson, R. G. (2019). Exploring the effectiveness of
physical activity interventions in women with previous gestational diabetes: A systematic
review of quantitative and qualitative studies. Preventive medicine reports, 100877.
CDC. (2019). National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017 Estimates of Diabetes and Its Burden in
the United States. Retrieved 1 September 2019, from
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pdfs/data/statistics/national-diabetes-statistics-report.pdf
Libiseller, A., Lichtenegger, K. M., de Campo, A., Wiesinger, T., Stolletz, N., Cuder, G., ... &
Pieber, T. R. (2018). Health status and glycaemic control in geriatric patients with type 2
diabetes mellitus. Age (years), 77(9), 80-9.
Milani, R. V., & Lavie, C. J. (2015). Health care 2020: reengineering health care delivery to combat
chronic disease. The American journal of medicine, 128(4), 337-343.

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Munshi, M. N., Florez, H., Huang, E. S., Kalyani, R. R., Mupanomunda, M., Pandya, N., ... & Haas, L. B.
(2016). Management of diabetes in long-term care and skilled nursing facilities: a position
statement of the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes care, 39(2), 308-318.
Nursing and Midwifery board (2019). (2019). Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia - New
codes of conduct for nurses and midwives published. Retrieved 1 September 2019, from
https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/News/2017-09-28-new-codes-of-
conduct.aspx
Powers, M. A., Bardsley, J., Cypress, M., Duker, P., Funnell, M. M., Fischl, A. H., ... & Vivian,
E. (2017). Diabetes self-management education and support in type 2 diabetes: a joint
position statement of the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of
Diabetes Educators, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The Diabetes
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