General Care Course

GCC

All NADC member centres are eligible to access the General Care Course to use at their organisation. To access the resources, centres need to complete the application form and email this to admin@nadc.net.au

*Please note: Since the introduction of the online National Diabetes Care Course in 2017, the General Care Course content has not been reviewed or updated. NADC member services are still able to utilise the General Care Course materials, however, the NADC suggest that each service ensure the content is accurate and up to date at the time of delivering the course.

NADC General Care Course Application

Program Goals

This program has been developed to provide health care providers in a range of general care settings with current knowledge of diabetes clinical management and self care recommendations. The delivery of the program has also been designed to link generalist healthcare professionals from all disciplines to a local network of diabetes experts so that they can facilitate referral to specialist diabetes services for their clients as well as ongoing support and education for themselves.

The overarching goals of the program are:

  • implementation of a standardised diabetes training program for generalist health care providers
  • enhancement of links and supporting networks between diabetes services and generalist health care providers
  • establishment of defined referral pathways at the local level and clarification between the role of diabetes teams, primary care teams and other providers of diabetes care.

Course Outcomes

On completing this course, participants will have the knowledge to be able to:

  • identify those at risk of developing diabetes and discuss prevention strategies;
  • provide basic introductory education and information to people with diabetes in their care;
  • provide assistance with survival skills;
  • advise clients about available support and clinical services;
  • assist their peers with information on appropriate networks, supports and services; and,
  • identify basic problems with diabetes care and appropriate referral pathways.

Course Participants

This course may be undertaken by a variety of health care provider including:

  • Registered and enrolled nurses
  • Allied health professionals
  • Aboriginal Health Workers
  • Direct care / personal care assistants.

Course participants should be currently working in a general care setting (clinical, community based, primary care, domiciliary care) and providing care for people with diabetes.

Scope of Practice

In no way does successful completion of this program enable health care providers to practice beyond the scope of practice of their particular discipline. Participants should be familiariszed with various health discipline decision making frameworks as part of a discussion on the roles (and limit of those roles) successful participants may undertake. One such framework is the Nursing Decision Making Framework that describes the relationships between registered and enrolled nurses, allied health providers and direct care or personal care assistants and the decision processes involved in accepting and delegating care. Similarly the scope of Dieatetic Practice Decision Tree describes the question a dietitian needs to ask before embarking on a particular activity. Health care providers should be referred to their own professional associations and policies of their employing bodies prior to taking on new roles or activities.

Content of the Training Package

The course content has been developed with a view to addressing the issues most likely to arise for health care providers in relation to diabetes care in general care settings.

Eight core modules cover:

  • Prevalence, pathophysiology, detection and prevention of diabetes
  • Chronic complications
  • Lifestyle issues (nutrition and physical activity)
  • Oral medication and insulin therapy
  • Acute complications
  • Self monitoring
  • Groups with special needs
  • Support services and self management.

The optional ninth module is specific to the management of diabetes in general practice and has been developed to meet the needs of practice nurses providing chronic disease care.

The package contains:

  • Mmodule outlines that include the rationale, aims, required teaching resources, facilitator notes, suggested activities and case studies.
  • Power point presentations for each module
  • A diabetes simulation activity – design to develop an understanding of the personal impact of diabetes
  • Participant work plan – designed to focus participant attention on the application of their learning to their work place
  • Case studies
  • Case study answers (for facilitators)
  • Reporting and evalutation tools.
  • Support services and self management information.