The use of the Roy Adaptation Model in clinical nursing care of an adolescent diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (case report)

Adolescence is considered one of the most difficult periods in life due to the physical, cognitive, emotional and social changes that occur. With the developmental characteristics of adolescence and the existence of a chronic disease such as type 1 diabetes (T1D), adolescents may face problems such as a decrease in self-esteem, feeling different from their peers, and not being able to be included in peer groups. In this case report, nursing approaches to improve the physical, psychological, and psychosocial adaptation of an adolescent diagnosed with T1D were implemented based on the Roy Adaptation nursing model. In line with data obtained (with permission) from a 14 -year-old patient with T1D, pain, nutritional insufficiency, hyperglycemia, fatigue, decreased social interaction, lack of knowledge, anxiety, inadequacy in individual coping, ineffective role performance and impairment in social interaction were diagnosed and appropriate nursing interventions were implemented. In this context, the patient was given counseling and nursing care on the complications of diabetes, insulin administration training, and diet training, ensuring the organization of her self-concept, roles, and responsibilities, eliminating the lack of information regarding the diagnosis of diabetes, and ensuring compliance with the diagnosis of diabetes. At the end of the nursing interventions, the patient's pain was relieved. Since nausea is the cause of the patient's "nutrition less than the body requirement" problem, interventions to relieve nausea have yielded positive results. Fatigue decreased and the patient was more willing to perform activities. The patient's lack of information about her ilnesses was addressed. Despite all nursing interventions about the patient's role function and mutual interaction areas, she still expresses the changes caused by her illness in her school life with negative evaluations. In this case report, it was seen that the use of the Roy Adaptation Model was appropriate and beneficial, considering that the most common problems among adolescents hospitalized for T1D are physical, psychological, and psychosocial adaptation to the illness.