Jo Wu

Type 2 diabetes is a global health problem. Evidence indicates that type 2 diabetes can lead to serious complications, such as a cardiac event, which usually require critical nursing care. Patients with type 2 diabetes and with a history of cardiac disease are at greater risk of a further cardiac event requiring readmission to hospital. Evidence indicates that improved diabetes management assists patients with type 2 diabetes to manage their condition efficiently, reduces risks of a further cardiac event, and therefore reduces hospitalisations. However, there is limited information found regarding a diabetes management program specifically for patients who have already had cardiac complications. Difficulties in developing patients' skills in managing and modifying their daily lives also present a challenge to coronary care staff. Therefore, there is a real need to develop a special diabetes management program for patients with diabetes who have experienced a critical cardiac event, which will be commenced in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU). The aim of this research is to gain a greater understanding of the characteristics, secondly to obtain in-depth understanding of needs and experiences of patients with type 2 diabetes hospitalised for a critical cardiac event. A further aim is to develop and pilot test a diabetes management program, specific to the patients with diabetes in the context of the CCU. The design of this research employed three studies: Study I was an exploratory study, which obtained patients' demographic and disease characteristics from the hospital records of all patients with diabetes admitted to the CCU of one public hospital between 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2003. Study II used a qualitative interpretative approach and aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the perspectives of patients with type 2 diabetes who have experienced a critical cardiac event in managing their everyday lives with both diabetes and cardiac conditions. Study III included two parts. The first utilised the information from the first two studies and the literature (self-efficacy theory) to develop a diabetes self-management program specifically for patients with diabetes who have had a critical cardiac event. The second part pilot tested the newly-developed diabetes self-management program for patients with diabetes admitted to CCU following a critical cardiac event. The pilot study used a randomised controlled trial research design to evaluate the efficacy of the program. Study I collected data from one hospital's records retrospectively from 2000 to 2003. The results of Study I showed there were 233 (14.7%) patients admitted to CCU that had diabetes out of the total 1589 CCU admissions during the study period. More than 22% of CCU patients with diabetes were readmitted to hospital within 28 days, compared to 6% of CCU patients without diabetes. Patients with diabetes who had a longer CCU stay were more likely to be readmitted. These results indicate that a significant proportion of a CCU population had type 2 diabetes and is more likely to be readmitted to hospital. Study II used an interpretive approach comprising open-ended interviews to collect data from patients with type 2 diabetes experiencing a cardiac event who had a CCU admission in 2000-2003. The findings revealed that patients with diabetes who had a critical cardiac event experienced considerable feelings of hopelessness and fatigue. Patients also had concerns in the areas of self-confidence and confidence in health professionals. Patients indicated that greater self-confidence and confidence in health professionals would help their ability to manage their daily lives. Therefore, it is very important that intervention programs for these at-risk patients need to improve patients' confidence levels, and reduce their feelings of hopelessness and fatigue. The information gathered from Study I and Study II provided important insight into the development of an effective diabetes self-management specifically designed for pa ients with type 2 diabetes following a critical cardiac event, which is presented in Study III in this thesis. Study III also provided a preliminary evaluation of the newly developed program. The evaluation used a randomised controlled trial research design for the new program and the current educational program provided in the CCU. The results of the program indicate the feasibility of commencing the new diabetes self-management program in the CCU, and to be continued in wards or at home. The results also showed significant improvements in patients' knowledge in the experimental group, but not in other outcome variables (self-efficacy, vitality and mental health levels). However, as a small sample size was used in this pilot study, a larger study is needed to ensure adequate testing of the intervention. Future research is also recommended to incorporate the new diabetes self-management program into the current cardiac education program. Staff's further professional development in providing such a program also needs to be examined. Improvements in quality of care, and patients' quality of life are expected in the future.

Type 2 diabetes is a global health problem. Evidence indicates that type 2 diabetes can lead to serious complications, such as a cardiac event, which usually require critical nursing care. Patients with type 2 diabetes and with a history of cardiac disease are at greater risk of a further cardiac event requiring readmission to hospital. Evidence indicates that improved diabetes management assists patients with type 2 diabetes to manage their condition efficiently, reduces risks of a further cardiac event, and therefore reduces hospitalisations. However, there is limited information found regarding a diabetes management program specifically for patients who have already had cardiac complications. Difficulties in developing patients' skills in managing and modifying their daily lives also present a challenge to coronary care staff. Therefore, there is a real need to develop a special diabetes management program for patients with diabetes who have experienced a critical cardiac event, which will be commenced in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU).