Professional Nurses’ Knowledge level on Type II Diabetes Mellitus at Selected teaching and Training Hospitals in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a global public health concern for many nations in the 21st Century with approximately 246 million people worldwide living with diabetes. A large number of research studies have it that nurses' knowledge on diabetes mellitus is poor and that there is the need to increase their knowledge level for effective management of patients with diabetes mellitus. In some cases, nurses' knowledge was adequate but they lacked knowledge in certain aspects of diabetes mellitus care especially, diabetic complications and insulin advancements. Also, there was a general notion in Sub-Saharan Africa that health care workers were insufficiently trained in chronic disease management. Methods: With this in mind, there was the need to find out the knowledge level of nurses in the Central Region of Ghana, particularly the Central Regional Hospital, the District Hospital and the University Hospital. To arrive at that a modified version of The Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Centre's Brief Diabetic Knowledge Test was administered. Results: Fourty-four 44 (32.4%) of the respondents' knowledge was good.However, knowledge level in the area of diabetic complications was generally poor among majority (68.4%) of the respondents. Conclusions: It is recommended that nurses continue to upgrade their knowledge in the area of diabetes mellitus, particularly in the area of diabetes complications and insulin advancements.