Using a Nurse-Led Telehealth Intervention to Improve Fasting Glucose Levels in Patients With Uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes Undergoing a Surgical Intervention

Background: Uncontrolled diabetes during the perioperative period can result in a variety of adverse postoperative outcomes. Objective: Evaluate a nurse-led telehealth preoperative intervention to improve glycemic control. Methods: Provide telehealth diabetes education prior to surgery and evaluate time spent and pre-/post-glucose levels. Between-group differences were used to assess glycemic control. Results: There was no significant difference in scores for those who received the telephone intervention (M = 167.71, SD = 59.9) and those who did not receive the intervention (M = 171.44, SD = 54.9; t (44) = 0.220, p = .82, two-tailed). The magnitude of the differences in the means was very small (Cohen’s d = 0.03). There was a reduction in pre- and post-glucose levels for both groups. Conclusions: Although the findings were not statistically significant, there may be some clinical significance. Implications for Nursing: The clinical significance has implications for nursing due to participants choosing to delay surgery and potentially preventing adverse outcomes.