Introduction: Insulin therapy is one of the prominent treatment methods to regulate the glucose level in blood. However, there are certain patients who refuse to even begin the insulin therapy. It is importance to identify patients’ perception and their acceptance of insulin therapy. Purpose of this study is to determine the perception of patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus towards insulin therapy. and to identify the differences in perception based on the respondents’ age, gender, occupations and educational level. Methods: This is a quantitative descriptive study and was done in one of diabetic clinic in Kota Kinabalu, involving 50 patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and was not on insulin therapy. Participants were recruited via purposive convenience sampling. Questionnaires were used as research instrument. Results: Majority of the participants (80%) have negative perceptions towards insulin ther- apy and 84% refused insulin therapy because it would interfere with their working time and routine. Acceptance of insulin therapy among the female patients (Mean = 3.0) was better than the male patients (Mean = 2.8). Patients with high educational level were more positive in accepting insulin therapy (SM > 0.5). Age and occupation factor were categorized as the strong influential factors (SM < 0.5) in determining the patients’ perception towards insulin therapy. The significant mean (mean ± SD) for gender and educational factor showed more than 0.5 hence suggests positive perception in accepting insulin therapy. While, the significant mean (mean ± SD) for age and occupation factor showed less than 0.5 thus suggests negative perception in accepting insulin therapy. Conclusion: Participants have negative perceptions towards insulin therapy and these negative perceptions may possibly deter them from receiving insulin therapy. Appropriate health education and counselling is necessary to help them change their neg- ative perceptions.
Introduction: Peripheral Intravenous Cannula (PIVC) placement can cause undesirable effects, such as phlebitis. Poor PIVC care can irritate tunica intima layers of the superficial vein. The incidence of phlebitis had become a national nursing indicator, with a standard of less than 0.9%. The standard care of the patient with intravenous in- cludes a routine PIVC assessment. However, what the assessment should be based on remained unclear. The objec- tive of this study is to assess nurses’ skill in performing PIVC assessment. Methods: This is a descriptive study using an audit-based approach. It is conducted in a pediatric hospital. Nine pediatric wards were identified via stratified sampling methods. A total of 86 registered nurses consented to participate in this study. A validated research instru- ments (α = 0.83), PIVC Assessment Skill (PIVC-AS) checklist is used to audit nurses in performing PIVC assessment. PIVC-AS consists of nine audit criteria (AC), AC1: communication skill, AC2 until AC7: PIVC assessment skill, AC8: documentation skill and AC9: PIVC management. Results: Nurses communication skills to patient as in AC1 shows compliance rate of seventy six percent. The compliance rate can be explained that this study was done in the pedi- atric setting. Participants may skip this communication due to handling with a pediatric patient. More than eighty eight percent nurses comply with AC2 to AC6 which indicated their excellent skill in performing PIVC assessment every shift. However, in the AC7, only sixty seven percent comply to palpate PIVC area for any evidence of venous cord and warmth. Conclusion: This study concludes that communication between nurses and pediatric patients prior to PIVC assessment often missed out by nurses. The palpation techniques also not been carried out as compared to observation technique in pediatrics setting. Palpation technique is crucial to detect ‘warmth to touch’ because it differentiates between the early and medium stage of phlebitis.
Introduction: Phlebitis may localise to the insertion site or travel along the vein. The risk of phlebitis is higher in children as they have thin and weak blood vessels and move continuously due to the pain associated with insertion. Therefore, regular assessment of the risk of developing phlebitis is crucial. This review aimed to identify infusion phlebitis assessment tool used in the paediatric setting. Methods: Electronic databases used were Scopus, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. A total of ten studies which assess the development of infusion phlebitis on hos- pitalised children included in this reviewed. Study findings were discussed and concluded with a recommendation for clinical practice and future studies. Results: Phlebitis development rate was the primary outcome measures in ten studies. Of ten studies, six provided no actual definition of phlebitis. Eight reported phlebitis incidence and/or severity, eight used a scale and two used a definition alone in assessing the development of phlebitis. This review identified five different phlebitis assessment scales. Conclusion: Although there are applicable phlebitis scales can be used for paediatric setting, Limited studies have been conducted on infusion phlebitis assessment method in chil- dren. Therefore, it is suggested that more studies and vigorous test needed to identify applicable assessment tools in paediatric setting.