Diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Managing diabetes mellitus is challenging. and patients have difficulty understanding self-management of the disease. The existing literature on self-management and patient-to-nurse relationships offers a deeper understanding of the challenges for patients with diabetes mellitus, their risk of CKD, how self-management impacts that risk, and how nurses can enhance self-management. Improving self-management of diabetes mellitus can decrease the risk for CKD. Essential self-management strategies to improve the quality of life of patients with diabetes mellitus include self-care behaviors, monitoring biological measures, and medication adherence.
Keywords: chronic kidney disease; diabetes mellitus; education; health; self-management.
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