Continuous Glucose Monitoring and Time in Range: Improving Data for Diabetes Management

Nursing roles in diabetes management.

A continuous glucose monitor reader (or a smartphone app) scans the sensor attached to the patient’s body for interstitial fluid glucose level and can provide data such as average blood glucose level or percentage of time spent in a target range over a given period of time.

Knowledge is power. When a person with diabetes knows their blood glucose levels, they can better self-manage lifestyle choices and medications and be an active participant in preventing complications. Glucose information can be obtained through a variety of methods. The majority of people with known diabetes receive reports on their glucose from the health care provider who is able to do lab work to obtain fasting or random blood glucose level, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c, or just A1c) level, and urine glucose.

Nurses play an integral role to partner with the patient about their diabetes and provide education on the meaning of glucose measurement. In the outpatient setting, nurses can help the patient adjust insulin dosages and work on glucose monitoring skills and interpretation. Inpatient, nurses oversee and utilize glucose results and help with self-management skills in anticipation of care […]

2024-06-19T10:57:17-04:00June 19th, 2024|Diabetes, digital health, Nursing, patient engagement, Technology|1 Comment
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Prioritizing Assessment of Postoperative Movement-Evoked Pain

It hurts to move.

Staja Booker, PhD, RN

It’s 10:00, 15 hours postoperative, and your patient has eaten breakfast and is resting comfortably in bed. You ask the patient, “On a scale of zero to 10, how much pain are you having right now?” The patient replies “zero, as long as I don’t move.” The nurse documents the pain score as 0/10 and continues their rounds.

Most nurses are happy when patients report no pain. What is the nurse missing? The contextual factor called movement.

Several years ago, a research participant told me, “Ain’t no sense in getting up to hurt.” A very simple yet powerful statement began my quest to shift how we understand and assess the dynamics between pain and movement.

The realities are:

  • Movement increases acute pain postoperatively, and most patients are afraid to move even when the importance of ambulation is known.
  • Most patients need some type of pain medication or non-pharmacological intervention to engage in mobility-related activities.
  • Movement and mobility enhance recovery and rehabilitation.
  • Movement-evoked pain is as a major barrier to participating in activity-based interventions.

Movement-evoked pain is an important pain characteristic that describes pain and discomfort during active or passive motion of the affected area. Yet, despite awareness among nurses of the importance of setting function-related pain goals, most of our pain assessments are performed […]

2023-07-31T09:32:18-04:00July 31st, 2023|Nursing, patient engagement, patient experience|0 Comments
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Comfort in the Midst of Grief: A Spiritual Care Journey

A mother’s grief.

Photo by Khamkéo Vilaysing on Unsplash

As a member of the spiritual care team, I received a request one morning to visit Ms. L, a patient who had just received devastating news: her son had unexpectedly died the previous night. Ms. L was recovering from a major surgery and in the process of being discharged from the hospital. The details surrounding her son’s death were unclear, but they only added to the profound sadness of the situation.

It was evident that the bond between Ms. L and her son was incredibly strong and loving. They had faced numerous physical challenges together, overcoming obstacles that strengthened their deep connection.

When I entered her room, there was a sense of familiarity about Ms. L, though I couldn’t quite place it. After I introduced myself, Ms. L turned to me, tears streaming down her face, and asked the agonizing questions that often arise in times of tragedy. “Why did this happen? Why were we subjected to so much pain? What had we done to deserve this punishment from God?” Ms. L, a devoted Catholic actively involved in her church, had always drawn strength from her religious beliefs for herself and her son.

In […]

2023-07-11T11:29:59-04:00July 11th, 2023|Nursing, nursing roles, patient engagement, patient experience, Patients|2 Comments
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Collaborating with Medical Interpreters: Best Practices for LEP Patients

Limited English proficiency and adverse event risk.

As a native San Franciscan, I grew up surrounded by bilingual people who represented cultures from all over the world. It is a privilege for me to be surrounded by such rich diversity, but many patients who are limited English proficient (LEP) are at risk for adverse events once they enter a health care setting. Identifying a patient’s preferred language at the initial point of entry can ensure that resources are available to support the patient as they navigate the health care system. Medical interpreters are vital to our LEP patients and serve as a bridge for translating both language and other crucial cross-cultural elements of communication.

Letting patients and families know their rights.

Providing interpreting services reduces health inequities for LEP patients and is also required by Title VI of the U.S. Civil Rights Act (1964). This law states that hospitals that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must notify LEP patients of the availability of free interpreting services, which should not include their own friends and family. As nurses, we must advocate for our patients who may not be aware of their rights and may have fears about perceived consequences if they admit to not being proficient in English. Perform a […]

2023-02-13T10:32:40-05:00February 13th, 2023|Nursing, patient engagement, Patients|1 Comment
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Understanding Trauma-Informed Care in Nursing Practice

When I first started my nursing career, I worked on the pediatric inpatient unit. I remember feeling sad and upset when getting report on my patients who had experienced terrible trauma in their young lives. I wondered how they would make it to and through adulthood after having survived abuse, neglect, witnessing violence, or serious illness or injury.

That was over 20 years ago, and now many of these patients are showing up in the health care system carrying their pain and bad memories with them. They may be the adult we meet with a substance or alcohol use issue, chronic pain, or help-rejecting behaviors. They might be the patient whom colleagues have labeled “difficult.” Or they might be chronically late for appointments or fail to show up at all. Frequently, people with a history of trauma can be further traumatized by an interaction with an uncaring health care system and choose to avoid getting the care they need. They may be experiencing symptoms of PTSD along with their other reasons for seeking health care.

Practicing trauma-informed-care (TIC) can help address this problem. June is PTSD awareness month, and we’d like to highlight our April CE feature, “Trauma-Informed Care in Nursing Practice.” Authors Elizabeth Dowdell and Patricia Speck point […]

2022-06-15T14:09:56-04:00June 9th, 2022|Nursing, patient engagement, Patients|0 Comments
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Views expressed on the blog are solely those of the authors or persons quoted. They do not necessarily reflect AJN’s views or those of Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
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