Brief Educational Intervention to Decrease Readmission Rates of Diabetic Ketoacidosis Within the Pediatric Population

As the number of children getting diagnosed with diabetes increases there also needs to be a rise in caregivers that could aid in managing this disease. The first step is educating the additional caregivers to the signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia to prevent a recurrent episode of DKA. Through reactive education there will be a supplementary preventative barrier that will protect pediatric patients from the additional consequences from uncontrolled diabetes that leads to readmissions.

Brief Educational Intervention to Decrease Readmission Rates of Diabetic Ketoacidosis within the Pediatric Population College of Nursing Everardo Lopez-Reyes, BSN Student BACKGROUND  Diabetes is a complicated disease to manage and is further complicated within the pediatric population.  Due to the delicate treatment and young age, most of the care tends to fall to the parents.  Parents tend to have to work, or the child is with other caregivers.  There is an increased risk for hypoglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis.  Diabetic ketoacidosis is one of the worst complications with diabetes and a cause for readmission to the hospital. INTERVENTION  While there are measures in place to educate the main caregivers and patient, there are additional benefits in including other caregivers to the diabetic education.  Creating a specialized educational handout that is given to the child’s additional caregivers. (i.e., teachers, babysitters, school nurses)  The handout will be individualized to the patient’s age, education, and support for 2 increase in success.  Especially with the number of children getting diagnosed with diabetes increasing every year, the proper education is needed.  It is important to also recall that pediatric1 onset diabetes differs from adult diabetes. STAKEHOLDERS OUTCOME AND MEASUREMENTS PRIMARY OUTCOME • There will be fewer readmissions of DKA into the hospital. MEAUSREMENT PICOT For children, experiencing DKA from a new diagnosis of DM, how does providing an educational handout that highlights the signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia to teachers and additional caregivers compare to not having an educational handout impact the number of readmissions for children with DKA over a year? POTENTIAL BARRIER  The education is up to the discretion of the additional caregiver who is given the form.  Many caregivers are usually occupied with the many facets of their life that they do not have the time.  By making the educational intervention dynamic and engaging it will potentially address this barrier and improve adherence for the benefit of the child. 3 CAREGIVERS • Who was given the educational handout and did that influence their readmission. PRIMARY CARE PHYSICAN TEACHERS & SCHOOL NURSES REFRENCES 1. Chiang, J. L., Maahs, D. M., Garvey, K. C., Hood, K. K., Laffel, L. M., Weinzimer, S. A., ... & Schatz, D. (2018). Type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents: a position statement by the American Diabetes Association. Diabetes Care, 41(9), 2026-2044. 2. Ergun-Longmire, B., Clemente, E., Vining-Maravolo, P., Roberts, C., PATIENT Buth, K., & Greydanus, D. E. (2021). Diabetes education in pediatrics: how to survive diabetes. Disease-a-Month, 101153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.disamonth.2021.101153. 3. Wallace, S., Webbe, J., Taylor, S., Pakkiri, L., & Kshirsagar, A. (2021). Reactive education for children with diabetic ketoacidosis during COVID-19. Pediatric Diabetes, 91-91.