Background: Standardized Nursing Care Plans (SNCP), utilizing a common language like NANDA and NIC, are increasingly used to streamline nursing data management. However, the impact of these standardized plans on patient outcomes, particularly in chronic conditions like Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM), requires careful evaluation. This study investigated whether implementing SNCP improves metabolic control, weight management, and blood pressure in T2DM patients.
Methods: A two-year prospective study was conducted across 31 primary health care centers in Spain, involving 24,124 outpatients with T2DM. Patient data was collected from Computerized Clinical Records. SNCP were identified based on the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association (NANDA) and Nursing Interventions Classification (NIC) taxonomies. Statistical analyses, including ANCOVA, were used to compare outcomes between patients receiving Usual Nursing Care (UNC) and those receiving SNCP.
Results: The study population included 18,320 patients in the UNC group and 5,168 in the SNCP group. After two years, the SNCP group showed improvements in most measured parameters, with the exception of LDL cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure. After adjusting for baseline values and other significant variables, statistically significant reductions were observed in diastolic blood pressure within the SNCP group. While the adjusted diastolic blood pressure reduction was clinically small, notable differences in control values for diastolic blood pressure, HbA1c, LDL-cholesterol, and Body Mass Index favored the SNCP group, reaching statistical significance for HbA1c. Crucially, a higher proportion of patients with poorly controlled diabetes at the start (HbA1c ≥7%) achieved better glycemic control in the SNCP group.
Conclusions: The implementation of SNCP appears beneficial in improving glycemic control, especially for T2DM patients with initially poor control (HbA1c ≥7%). A slight improvement in diastolic blood pressure was also observed in the SNCP group compared to usual care. These findings highlight the potential of standardized nursing diagnoses and care plans to enhance diabetes management and patient outcomes, particularly in achieving crucial glycemic targets.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01482481
