Diabetes mellitus: an overview of the types, symptoms, complications and management.

The incidence of diabetes mellitus is rapidly increasing, and this condition often results in significant metabolic disease and severe complications. Nurses have a crucial role in monitoring, educating and supporting people with diabetes, as well as their families and significant others. This article provides an overview of the main types and common symptoms of diabetes, its acute and long-term complications and its management. It also outlines the nurse's role in diabetes care, which frequently includes assessing and empowering patients.

An Evaluation of an Extended Intervention to Reduce Plagiarism in Bachelor of Nursing Students.

Pre- and postintervention surveys of first-year nursing students were undertaken to establish the students' knowledge of plagiarism following implementation of an online library-based Academic Integrity Module and the use of plagiarism detection software. Knowledge and understanding of plagiarism improved, but students' ability to paraphrase remained poor. Students entering postsecondary educational institutions require ongoing support and learning opportunities to improve their skills in paraphrasing and referencing to avoid plagiarism.

Protocol: investigating the effectiveness and cost benefit of a lifestyle intervention targeting type 2 diabetes in Australia.

BACKGROUND: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) has become an endemic disease. A number of interrelated factors increase the risk of the onset of T2DM, however much of the pathogenesis of the disease is associated with lifestyle. A number of studies have indicated that adopting positive lifestyle changes can successfully prevent or delay the onset of T2DM in a number of different population groups. The CHIP intervention is a lifestyle program that has been shown in over more than 30 published papers have indicated that the CHIP intervention leads to dramatic improvement in the indicators of T2DM these diseases of lifestyle. METHODS: A randomized control trial will be conducted involving 150 individuals with an established diagnosis of T2DM. All participants will continue to receive usual ongoing diabetes care, however, the intervention group (75 individuals) will in addition participate in a 12-week CHIP lifestyle intervention programme followed by a further 9 months of monthly follow-up appointments. Approval for funding was obtained on 30 June 2017. DISCUSSION: The outcomes of this study have the potential to inform decisions about patient treatment and potentially provide incentive for the provision of funded lifestyle-based preventive and restorative programs for patients diagnosed with T2DM. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is registered as an initial version with the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ( http://www.anzctr.org.au/ ), registration number ACTRN12617001233314. Registered on 23/08/2017. No enrollments in the study to date.

The role of obesity in the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with various modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors, including lifestyle factors. Obesity is the principal lifestyle factor associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is essential for nurses to have an understanding of the pathophysiology associated with factors that contribute to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, particularly those associated with obesity. Nurses who have an understanding of the interaction between obesity and the onset of type 2 diabetes are better equipped to discuss the importance of weight loss and other necessary lifestyle adjustments in the prevention and management of obesity and diabetes associated with obesity, to implement evidence-based practice and to support patients to manage their health effectively.

Reducing medication errors in nursing practice.

Medication errors remain one of the most common causes of unintended harm to patients. They contribute to adverse events that compromise patient safety and result in a large financial burden to the health service. The prevention of medication errors, which can happen at every stage of the medication preparation and distribution process, is essential to maintain a safe healthcare system. One third of the errors that harm patients occur during the nurse administration phase: administering medication to patients is therefore a high-risk activity. This article highlights factors that contribute to medication errors, including the safety culture of institutions. It also discusses factors that relate specifically to nurses, such as patient acuity and nursing workload, the distractions and interruptions that can occur during medication administration, the complexity of some medication calculations and administration methods, and the failure of nurses to adhere to policies or guidelines.

An intervention aimed at reducing plagiarism in undergraduate nursing students.

Plagiarism is a current and developing problem in the tertiary education sector where students access information and reproduce it as their own. It is identified as occurring in many tertiary level degrees including nursing and allied health profession degrees. Nursing specifically, is a profession where standards and ethics are required and honesty is paramount. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in nursing student's knowledge and understanding of plagiarism before and after an educational intervention in their first semester of the Bachelor of nursing degree at a private college of higher education in Sydney, Australia. This study concluded that an educational intervention can increase knowledge and awareness of plagiarism among nursing students.

Australian graduating nurses' knowledge, intentions and beliefs on infection prevention and control: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In recent year, national bodies have been actively addressing the increasing concern on the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The current study measures the knowledge, intentions and beliefs of third-year Australian nursing students on key infection prevention and control (IPC) concepts. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of final-year undergraduate nursing students from Schools of Nursing at six Australian universities was undertaken. Students were asked to participate in an anonymous survey. The survey explored knowledge of standard precautions and transmission based precautions. In addition intentions and beliefs towards IPC were explored. RESULTS: 349 students from six universities completed the study. 59.8% (95% CI 58.8-60.8%) of questions were answered correctly. Significantly more standard precaution questions were correctly answered than transmission-based precaution questions (p < 0.001). No association was found between self-reported compliance with IPC activities and gender or age. Certain infection control issues were correlated with the percentage of correctly answered transmission-based precaution questions. The participants were most likely to seek infection control information from an infection control professional. CONCLUSION: Knowledge on transmission-based precautions was substandard. As transmission-based precautions are the foundation of IPC for serious organisms and infections, education institutions should reflect on the content and style of educational delivery on this topic.