Diabetes Knowledge: Do You Know What You Think You Know? (Spotlight Poster)

Purpose: Outpatient nurses may perceive they have adequate diabetes knowledge, but their perceptions may not align with actual knowledge, potentially resulting in the sharing of inaccurate information. Prior to this study, little was known about basic diabetes knowledge among outpatient nurses. The purpose of this study was to determine relationships between perceived and actual basic diabetes knowledge.
Background: In the outpatient setting, patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes encounter many nurses, most of whom are not diabetes care and education specialists or certified diabetes care and education specialists (DCES/CDCES). During outpatient encounters, nurses may provide planned patient education on diabetes, but other interactions may be impromptu. As a result, it is vital that nurses have a basic understanding of diabetes-related information. Problems may occur if nurses rely on diabetes knowledge that comes from having diabetes (personal experience) or that of friends and family members who have diabetes (vicarious experience). If nurses perceive that they have adequate diabetes knowledge, but do not present accurate information, the quality of patient care may be compromised. The research team identified two studies on nurse perceived and actual knowledge. In one study, only a moderate relationship was found between perceived and actual knowledge among nurses in the inpatient setting. In the other study, school nurse perceived knowledge was much higher than actual; there was a low correlation between them. No studies addressing perceived and actual knowledge among nurses in the adult outpatient care setting were found.
Methods: The study team developed the diabetes basic assessment of knowledge (DiaBAK) tool. Survey links were emailed to nurses in outpatient settings and included the DiaBAK tool, a survey of nurse characteristics, and one question about perceived diabetes knowledge. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman as appropriate.
Results: The sample consisted of 492 participants. Correlations of higher actual knowledge included being a DCES/CDCES, personal experience, caring for many patients with diabetes, and recent diabetes continuing education but did not include vicarious experience. Additionally, negative correlations were found for age and years in a nursing role, indicating that as age or years in nursing role increased, DiaBAK scores decreased. Perceived knowledge was higher for nurses who received continuing education compared to those who never received it. Apart from vicarious experience, all other associated factors of high perceived knowledge were also associated with high actual knowledge scores. The results demonstrate the value of regular continuing education and annual competencies for outpatient nurses and highlights the need for initial and ongoing education.
Conclusions: There are important implications when nurse actual knowledge is lower than they perceive. Concerns are raised that vicarious experience may be an underrecognized reason for the spread of misinformation. When nurses provide incorrect diabetes information, people with diabetes may be impacted in several ways. For example, misinformation about insulin storage, low blood glucose management, or target glucose levels may result in detrimental outcomes. A single nurse providing misinformation can influence other nurses and most importantly patients and patient support systems.