Charity empowers nurses in management of diabetes cases

Nurses can improve the way they manage their diabetes caseload with the help of a new guide.

Diabetes UK launched the guide, which gives advice on managing insulin administration in the community, at its professional conference in Glasgow this week. It will benefit community nurses and diabetes specialist nurses.

How to: Manage Insulin Administration in the Community includes direction on individual patient reviews and encourages community teams to consider standards of care, staffing and caseload management processes. It also outlines how to develop an insulin delegation programme in which a nurse allocates the task of insulin administration to non-registered practitioners, such as healthcare assistants.

Accredited by the RCN, it was developed in conjunction with a working group of healthcare professionals.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust diabetes specialist nurse Helen Atkins, who was on the working group, said the two-part guide will help staff overcome accountability concerns.

‘This guide offers solutions to empower community staff to deliver care safely by developing the knowledge and skills of community staff,’ she said. ‘There is huge potential to save time and money by ensuring the most effective use of staff time, and improve patient care delivery.’

Diabetes UK director of health intelligence and professional liaison Simon O’Neill said: ‘As the number of older people continues to rise rapidly, an increasing number of this group will need help to manage their diabetes.

‘It is therefore becoming increasingly important that more community staff are given the knowledge and skills to care for people with diabetes.’

Read the guide here