Introduction & Objective: Inpatient glycemic management for patients living with diabetes can be challenging due to complex, interrelated factors. Therefore, as patient advocates, nurses must be able to identify what clinical data warrants a call to the physician to facilitate timely decisions and interventions. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a two-hour comprehensive diabetes education course in improving nurses’ understanding of glucose trends and causative factors, basal-bolus insulin regimens, and what information to communicate with the physician using the SMILE (Sugar Trend, Medications, IV Fluid, Labs, and Eating) SBAR (Situation Background Assessment Recommendation) approach.
Methods: Data was collected from a purposive sample of 28 registered nurses from a single general medicine unit. A t-test was used to examine nurses’ perceptions of knowledge and self-efficacy in nine content areas. Kruskal-Wallis H analysis was also conducted on the unit’s monthly patients’ blood glucose values over four months (July, August/intervention, September, and October 2023).
Results: The results suggest the class was effective in improving nurses’ perceived knowledge and self-efficacy in all nine content areas. The mean differences between the pre-and post-test ranged from .61 ± 1.26 (I feel confident when calling the physician and providing adequate information to advocate for the appropriate treatment) to 1.11 ± 1.20 (I have sufficient knowledge regarding the SMILE SBAR and use it as a tool for communicating with the physician), p<.05. Patients’ median blood glucose values were statistically significantly different across four months (July, August, September, October), χ2(3)=21,088, p<.0001.
Conclusion: Continued efforts to prevent and manage inpatient glycemic control should focus on enhancing nurse-physician communication and teamwork with simple yet effective tools such as the SMILE SBAR.
L. Byrd: None. A. Stewart: None. O. Obisesan: None.
