An Assessment of the Associate Degree Nursing Students’ Understanding of Health Literacy Concepts When Providing Health Promotion for the Diabetic Patient

Abstract

Health literacy (HL) concept deficiencies exist in undergraduate nursing curricula (Smith and Zsohar, 2011; Cornett, 2009; Jukkala, Deupree, Graham, 2009). As future nurses who will have a significant impact on client health literacy assessment, it is essential that health literacy-related content be integrated into undergraduate nursing educational curricula (Sand-Jecklin, Murray, Summers, Watson, 2010; McCleary-Jones, 2012). The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has significantly increased resulting in greater morbidity and mortality risks to the general public; therefore, programs for diabetes prevention, education, and health literacy assessments have become a national priority (Whittemore, Rosenberg, Gilmore, Withey, and Breault, 2013; Hemingway, Stephenson, Trotter, Clifton, and Holdich, 2015). The goal of this project is for Associate Degree nursing (ADN) students to learn to appropriately assess patient HL levels and promote healthy choices and behaviors for T2D patients. Through a qualitative exploratory approach based on Kolb’s (1984) Experiential Learning Theory, this project will survey students' experiences after they have both assessed and then provided health promotion concepts to T2D patients.