Diabetes nurse educators' prioritized elder foot care behaviors

The purpose of this study was to identify diabetes nurse educators' perceptions of the most important foot care behaviors for elderly people to enact in daily care.

A structured, open-ended questionnaire was mailed to a regionally stratified random sample of 90 diabetes nurse educators. Subjects were asked to identify and rank order 8 foot care behaviors perceived important for elderly people with diabetes to enact daily. Data were transcribed and coded into categories and domains using descriptive content analysis.

Forty-seven diabetes nurse educators responded with a total of 346 foot care behaviors perceived important for elders. Twenty-one major foot care behavior content categories were grouped into 4 domains of descending importance: foot/nail care, footwear/shoes, general health, and foot emergencies.

Diabetes nurse educators generated a range of baseline data for developing a reliable, valid, and patient foot care knowledge outcome measure to support national diabetes patient education and self-management program guidelines.