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Nursing Care for Young Adults with Type I Diabetes

Armstrong (2002) reported that according to results of surveys undertaken by the National Institutes of Health, the incidence of diabetes in the United States has increased six fold in the past 40 years and, currently, some 798,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in this country. Of the approximately 16 million U.S. residents with diabetes, some 1.6 million have Type I diabetes with the remainder having Type II diabetes. Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus emerges for the most part in childhood or in adolescence (Chase, 2001).

Type I diabetes is caused by destruction of cells in the pancreas, which causes the pancreas to produce insufficient amounts of insulin, a hormone that helps sugar enter the cells and which also controls the level of sugar in the blood (Chase, 2001). Given that numerous symptoms leading to ill health and a poor quality of life are often associated with Type I diabetes, early detection and nursing intervention is of special significance (Cradock, 2002). For the nurse charged with providing care and educational as well as supportive services to the adolescent with Type I diabetes, a thorough understanding of the patient's symptoms, lifestyle choices and behaviors, medication, dietary and exercise regime, and reaction to treatment interventions is especially important (Craddock, 2002).

Thus, the clinical problem investigated in this quantitative research project is focused on the ways in which nurses providing care to adolescents and young adults with Type I diabetes first asses symptomology and quality of life issues, and secondly determine if the treatment or intervention being provided to patients is adequate to their needs. A related concern is the degree to which young adults or adolescents with Type I diabetes perceive their condition to have a negative impact upon their quality of life and the degree to which such patients follow a treatment protocol designed to enhance quality of li...

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Nursing Care for Young Adults with Type I Diabetes. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 01:51, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1694206.html