Date of Graduation

Spring 5-17-2024

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

Department/Program

Nursing

Program

Family Nurse Practitioner

First Advisor

Jo Ann Loomis

Second Advisor

Juli Maxworthy

Abstract

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common cause of diabetic eye complications and a leading cause of preventable vision loss in American adults. Skaggs et al. (2017) reported that DR screening prevents vision loss by 95%. The evidence reports that only 60% of people with diabetes have attended the recommended DR screenings (Flaxel et al., 2020). Emerging evidence supports patient education about diabetic eye care and its guidelines by health care professionals (HCPs) as the main facilitator to accomplish this goal (Khair et al., 2020; Moinul et al., 2020). Healthcare professionals are pivotal in encouraging or discouraging DR screening attendance.

Local Problem: The U.S. Census data 2010 reports that Maine has 60% of the rural state population (World Population Review, 2023). The rural areas have a higher disparity between the number of practicing ophthalmologists and patients with diabetes (AAO, 2020). The number of people with diabetes in Maine is 1.7% higher than the average national rate (CDC - BRFSS 2013 Survey Data and Documentation, 2022). It suggests that rural healthcare challenges in receiving timely care are due to the distance.

Methods: Diabetes and Healthy Eyes Toolkit, developed by the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) for health educators, was used to implement a Doctor of Nursing Practice student-led quality improvement change of practice project. It included a PowerPoint and pre-and post-assessment questionnaires distributed to the clinical staff before and after the education presentation to measure the knowledge changes and willingness to change in participants' practice after the presentation. The data collection of both assessment outcomes was entered into Qualtrics with Excel for statistical analysis.

Interventions: This DNP student presented the 60-minute educational session on diabetes eye care and its guidelines to ensure early detection and timely treatment to prevent diabetic eye complications. The specific aim was a 10 % increase in knowledge and clinicians' willingness to change practice from the baseline.

Results: The knowledge level of the HCPs was 84% (N=27) before and 92% (N=21) after the educational intervention. The HCPs willing to change their practice to educate patients after the presentation were 81%.

Conclusions: The education session on diabetic eye complications and its guidelines for clinicians at the project site improved their knowledge and willingness to educate the patients.

Comments

Edited the initial submission on 5/31/2024

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