Diabetes Foot Care

Qualitative Research Critique: Diabetes Foot Care

Sue Flood (2009) saw a need to examine the nurse-patient interaction in relation to diabetes foot care outcomes, in part because at least one health care organization (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) has concluded that diabetes care received by patients often do not meet best practice standards. The impact of substandard care includes a 45 to 85% difference in the incidence of foot ulcers and amputations, as reported by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. The author further justified this study based on the ongoing global obesity and diabetes epidemics.

Flood (2009) decided to examine the nurse-patient interactions because this relationship has been shown to have a significant impact on patient outcomes. This represents the primary assumption the author tests in her study. The four components of nurse-patient interactions are: (1) affective support, (2) health information, (3) decisional...
[ View Full Essay]