Diabetes Management - Essay Example

Reflective Essay Diabetes management has been a topic close to my heart. The reason behind this is deep-rooted. Besides the disease being a concern in my family and village, I have had a relationship with a friend who was suffering from the disease. This close contact with the condition has given me a special attachment such that a seminar or a course regarding the disease wins my total concentration and attention. As I put down this reflection, I am impressed to have been part of a program and a course that will make a difference to me and my life. This is something that I have always wished in my life and career. The four days course was organized for the importance of the condition and the need for such knowledge imparted on all of us. In all the sessions, I felt that the content was directed at my experience and fulfillment. Throughout the course, from registration through the day to day activities and group discussions, I felt fulfilled. This was further assured by the commitment of the instructors, Graham Rena and Anwar Mohammad who seemed to read my mind. Graham, for instance, had a sense of humor that made each session memorable and an activity to look forward to. I could always feel comfortable and rather relaxed when the tutor was in session. The mastery of the content and how well he articulated it to the care I have experienced first-hand made it look real and enjoyable. Anwar, on the other hand, provided me with a different perspective of the care. The content mastery had a way of challenging my thoughts making every point a new insight. These quality tutors made the course not only enjoyable but also educative and easily applied in my case at home and in the future. Basing on the new knowledge I obtained from this course, and my experience in the group work activities, I am now happy to indicate several things. First, I now know the importance of insulin as a remedy for increased blood sugar. This has been well explained to make each instance I am administering insulin to the patient a new experience. I can now explain to the patient the importance of the drug and why adherence is so important. Secondly, I have gained a deeper insight into the relationship that exists between diabetes and other common health conditions such as obesity and hypertension. This also contributes to my knowledge and practice in that in the future, a patient with these conditions may be subjected to blood glucose test as part of comprehensive management. When working in a healthcare setting in the current world, I have always held as important possession of relevant knowledge. This is because information, besides being a real source of power for a healthcare profession, also leads to informed choices. Knowing very well how insulin works will assist in making decisions on the management of patients with diabetes. For instance, I previously had a problem deciding on the best tile along the continuum of the disease when a patient may be started on insulin. Further, the type of diabetes that requires insulin continuously and that which is rather independent have always been confusing for me. These two issues have been adequately clarified in this course and I feel more confident dealing with the condition. In addition, I remember having to evade patients questions regarding what may have led to the development of the disease. A bit embarrassing scenario was in my first encounter with a diabetic patient in a clinic who seemed to have more information on the disease that I had. This made me look inferior in front of a patient who expected me to provide her with medical care. However, the confidence gained from this course will be important to me. I now feel that there is no question from the patient that I cannot answer concerning the disease, its progression and management including pharmacological management and dietary modification. Further, this information, once used in the practice will be easily transferable to other people. From the realization that not everyone in practice has had such an opportunity, I wish to put it upon myself to transmit the information to others. This way, I hope to contribute positively to the development of all healthcare professions and in the long-run the management of diabetes. The global burden of diabetes could not be better explained. The course brought to light the real issues I health related to diabetes and its management. From the emergence of new concepts, drugs availability and activity, the relationship between obesity and insulin resistance among other issues addressed, new information was learned. When relating the information to research evidence on obesity and the existing gap in the knowledge of insulin use and other diabetes management strategy, I feel that the course would not have come at a better time. The new information will definitely make a big impact in my practice and future research. From my past experience in practice, the level of blood sugar depended on the extent to which the disease has affected the body and the type of food that the patient is taking. In addition, I also learned that this too was affected by the drugs that the patient is taking and the point in time when the patient takes the drugs after eating. However, how these drugs were developed or worked in the body of a patient had remained a rather confusing phenomenon. Metformin for instance was commonly used in my practice as was insulin. However, I was sometimes unable to tell the difference in the mode of action of the two drugs in the management of diabetes. It was only when a colleague pointed out that metformin was not used for Type I Diabetes that I thought deeply about it. This course has however put everything in a clear perspective. The use of drugs in the management of diabetes has been explained in a practical and teachings that are clear and better memorable. Having been involved in experiments and practical, I felt that the course had delivered to me more than expected. I now, more than ever, feel more comfortable doing than just listening to patients and other caregivers. The break of monotony has been very eye-opening and educative. Through observing as reagents and chemicals interacted, a new perspective that is evidence based was developed. The perspective enhanced the confidence in most of us and in a discussion immediately after the course, I discovered that I was not alone in this. Many of my colleagues also felt that the course was not just an eye opener but a necessary step in making evidence based practice a reality in healthcare. According to one of my group mates, the surprise that showed on the faces of a good number of the people undertaking the course during the immunoblotting practical, was a testimony that more of such practical are necessary. For me and all the participants in this course, the events and the lessons should not end there. This is because the course cannot be availed to all the healthcare workers at the same time. The implication of this, as Dr. Mairi, the program director pointed out, is that the participants become educators hereafter. Although the rest of the people may not get the experience we got from the course, sharing the most vital information on management of diabetes will help improve practice. Having been a victim of misinformation and lack of knowledge, I wish to bridge the knowledge gap in my area of practice. To do this, I will introduce continuing medical education forums for the practitioners in my area. These forums will be guided by a well-planned lessons and include people from outside the institution. I have contacted several of my group members on this and wish to plan an inter-institutional education forums. This will go a long way in disseminating the information that we learnt from the course and ensuring that the information is not just held by those of us who attended the course but is shared with all those involved in healthcare. In addition, I look forward to having the lessons as taught in this course integrated into the teaching institutions curriculums. The impact of this will be having well-informed graduates as they leave the institutions into practice. By so doing, the information will be disseminated in rather formal and well-organized environments and also reach many more practitioners. In these institutions, practical will be easily taken and research time and resources are easily available. This will contribute to the development and updating of the information and also in the expansion of the body of knowledge. I even feel motivated to conduct a research on a topic related to diabetes management that will contribute to the already recorded information and help in advancing the management and creating more adaptable approaches to the same. However, I know the resources limitation of such a research and will, therefore, need to make a concise plan about it before engaging in the activity. Read More