INTRODUCTION
Diabetes is a chronic illness that requires
patients to care for themselves. Daily they must
test their urine and/or blood, adjust and administer
iheir insulin, balance their diets, and exercise
their bodies. Despite this involvement in
self-care, patients are often excluded when
health care professionals are devising their
regimens (Hoover 1982).
Compliance is an important issue in diabetes
care for it is only through adherence to a prescribed
plan of care that blood glucose levels may
be kept uithin the normal range. Both Krall
(1985) and Hellenbrand (1983) believe that
patient compliance can be increased through
mutual goal setting and joint planning between
the patient and health care provider.
Nurses involved in the education of diabetic
patients can incorporate this concept of mutual
goal setting and planning through the use of
King's theory of goal attainment. This paper
presents King's theory and applies it to the care
of the diabetic in the outpatient setting. The
advantages of theory are also included.