In the United States, type 2 diabetes remains one of the prevailing health conditions among elderly adults. As reported by Yakaryılmaz and Öztürk (2017), though more than 1/4 of the American geriatric population is already diagnosed with the disorder, experts in the field anticipate the number to double over the period of twenty years. Current clinical practice does not provide substantial resources to resist the prolongation of population aging and decline in life expectancy associated with type 2 diabetes, increasing the likelihood of comorbid diseases. As further indicated by Nogueira, de Medeiros, Bittencourt, and da Nobrega (2016), lack of nursing intervention at the moment enhances the manifestations of geriatric symptoms in those diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Examples of such signs include cognitive impairment, urinary incontinence, polypharmacy, and depressive conditions (Yakaryılmaz & Öztürk, 2017). While there currently exists no treatment for type 2 diabetes, there is a need for research on the feasibility of outpatient telemedicine implementation and its ability to improve the overall quality of healthcare. This novel solution serves as an alternative source of patient care in the form of nursing intervention.
The traditional model of healthcare failed to provide accessible treatment of diabetes to vulnerable elderly patients due to the shortage of endocrinologists and the high cost of the services. Therefore, telemedicine, a practice of screening those with diabetes remotely, may be utilized as an evidence-based solution to the issue, which reduces the number of personnel involved in healthcare and significantly lowers the expenditures (Gervera & Graves, 2015). In this case, the nursing intervention will take place through the exchange of medical information via electronic communications, including, but not limited to, emails, texts, voicemail, smartphone messages, with the purpose of improving the patient’s clinical health status (Gervera & Graves, 2015). Such an approach, in combination with conservative clinic visits, is believed to increase the overall quality of nursing practice, relying mostly on the provision of care from home and asynchronous exchange of data at the workplace. Instead of using annual self-reports from patients as the fundamental support for adjusting the treatment, healthcare professionals could take advantage of the daily (weekly or monthly) records generated as a part of the telemedicine intervention.
Consequently, in the geriatric diabetic patient (P), will implementation of telemedicine to communicate cares and concerns (I) compared to traditional clinic visits (C), decrease the concomitant effects of type 2 diabetes through 24/7 monitoring of the syndromes from home (O) over a 12 month period (T)? By monitoring the symptoms of type 2 diabetes regularly, nurses could analyze the prevalence, motivating factors, and origin of the concomitant diseases mentioned earlier in the paper (Gervera & Graves, 2015). Such practice would respond effectively to the patients’ needs for the majority of individuals diagnosed with diabetes mellitus refer to medical support due to the accompanying conditions of diabetes. If proved efficient over the course of six months, telemedicine could be incorporated in the general nursing practice as a constituent of patient-centered care.
Ultimately, the healthcare quality of geriatric patients may be improved with the adoption of the telemedicine technique in the current nursing practice. The evaluation framework for the effectiveness of the technique should be verified by the home healthcare agency responsible for the technological aspect of screening. The anticipated outcomes for patient care are focused on lowering the manifestations of type-2 diabetes syndromes and decreasing the risk of comorbid health conditions.
References
Gervera, K., & Graves, B. A. (2015). Integrating diabetes guidelines into a telehealth screening tool.Perspectives in Health Information Management, 12, 1-6. Web.
Nogueira, L. G. F., de Medeiros, A. C. T., Bittencourt, G. K. G. D., & da Nobrega, M. M. L. (2016). Nursing diagnoses, outcomes and interventions to elderly patients with diabetes: A case study. Online Brazilian Journal of Nursing, 15(2). Web.
Yakaryılmaz, F. D., & Öztürk, Z. A. (2017). Treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the elderly. World Journal of Diabetes, 8(6), 278-283. Web.