A conjoint medical/nursing diabetes education program: impact on care in a rural community.
This paper describes the planning, teaching format, and evaluation of an interdisciplinary education program in diabetes mellitus for physicians and nurses in a rural Canadian community. Most participants preferred the conjoint teaching format to the unidisciplinary didactic programs traditionally offered. An evaluation, by chart review, of the management of diabetic patients cared for before and at 3, 6, and 12 months after the teaching program revealed significant changes in the referral practices of both the home care nurses and the physicians. Our findings suggest the occurrence of a program-related change in collaborative care practiced by the physicians and nurses who participated. A more extensive three year project has been initiated to further document the effectiveness of interdisciplinary continuing education in this community.
D000416:Alberta; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012423:Rural Health