An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Diabetes Foot Screening Education Programme in Donegal

Diabetic foot ulceration is one of the most serious and costly complications of diabetes A national education programme was developed to facilitate primary care nurses to screen patients with diabetes to identify those at... [ view full abstract ]

Diabetic foot ulceration is one of the most serious and costly complications of diabetes
A national education programme was developed to facilitate primary care nurses to screen patients with diabetes to identify those at risk of foot ulceration.
Aims:
To identify if the education programme fulfilled the participants learning needs.
To evaluate if nurses are confident in conducting foot risk assessments in practice.

Methods
Post education evaluation questionnaires were completed by all participants to discover if the programme had met their learning needs.
A postal questionnaire was distributed to assess the impact of the education programme on clinical practice.
Results were compared to national findings.

Results:
47 nurses completed the education programme in County Donegal.
100% of participants identified the programme met their learning needs.
Response rate to the postal questionnaire was 55.3%(26) and showed the majority of the nurses (88.5%) now used the screening and assessment process and recording tool in practice. 93. 3% reported clinical confidence in conduction foot assessments and risk assessment. 96.2% of respondents have referred to podiatry following assessment, allowing appropriate patients to be prioritised for this service.
Lack of dedicated time for diabetes care in General Practice was identified as a barrier to footscreening as well as unavailability of dedicated diabetes podiatry. The majority participants had referred patients onto the locally adapted pathway and 46% had referred a patient n the past month.
Nurses in Donegal scored higher than a national survey in confidence to conduct foot assessment (92% v78%) and assess risk of ulceration (92% v 79%).

Conclusions: The education programme met the learning needs of the participants and impacted on clinical practice, identifying patients at risk of diabetic foot ulceration. This can have an impact of ensuring appropriate patients are attending podiatry services and ultimately reduce the incidence of diabetes foot ulceration.