Effect of Tele-nursing Guidelines on Knowledge among Women with Gestational Diabetes during COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus is a global disorder and one of the most common complications during pregnancy. Tele- Nursing provides a solution for maintaining continuity of care while practicing physical distancing due to COVID-19. Aim of the study: was to evaluate the effect of Tele-nursing guidelines on knowledge among gestational diabetic women during COVID-19 pandemic Subjects and Method: Research design: Quazi experimental design (pre & posttest) was adopted to carry out this study Setting: The study was conducted at family planning and antenatal care unit in outpatient clinic, at Zagazig University Hospital Subjects : Purposive sample composed of 55 pregnant women with gestational diabetes. Tools of data collection: three tools were used for data collection. Tool I: A structured interviewing questionnaire, Tool II: Knowledge regarding Gestational Diabetes Mellitus questionnaire. Tool III: An educational nursing guidelines booklet for pregnant women with gestational diabetes. Results: The study result showed that 96% of studied women had unsatisfactory level of knowledge about the gestational diabetes at pre intervention and this percentage was changed to 4.0% at post intervention with statistically highly significant (p<0.001). Additionally, the mean± SD of total women knowledge was 10.32±3.15 at the pre intervention and changed to 29.18±2.29 at the post intervention. Conclusion: It was concluded that Tele-nursing guidelines significantly improve the women knowledge regarding Gestational Diabetes Mellitus as well as women self-care management. Recommendations: Simple clarified Tele nursing guidelines should be implemented to increase women’s knowledge about gestational diabetes mellitus through the application of the Tele-nursing guidelines with the routine care in antenatal care units.