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Help Patients Avoid Diabetic Complications

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Help Patients Avoid Diabetic Complications

Preventing Diabetic Complications






Donna M. Tomky, MSN, RN, C-NP, CDE

If you knew of a resource to help your patients with diabetes with issues such as glucose control or weight management -- and if this resource was available at no cost to the patient -- wouldn't you gladly help them access that program?

Nearly two thirds of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are unable to manage their condition successfully. As a result, they frequently exceed recommended glucose levels, putting them at risk for serious complications such as heart disease, retinopathy, and neuropathy.

These devastating complications can be prevented if patients make lifestyle changes and tightly control their glucose levels, but doing so can be very challenging. Fortunately, there is an entire subspecialty in healthcare that is dedicated to helping patients learn how to self-manage their disease. It's called diabetes self-management training, or more commonly referred to as diabetes education. Unfortunately, many clinicians are unaware of these specialists whose services are covered by Medicare and many commercial insurers.

For example, a patient of mine had been seeing his primary care provider for years, and was referred to me only when he began taking insulin. He had never before met with a diabetes educator, but he soon learned that there was more to managing the disease than simply taking his prescribed medications.

I showed him how to count carbohydrates and calories, and I taught him how to monitor his glucose and interpret the results so that he could effectively adjust insulin doses at meals. He also learned how to find solutions when his glucose was out of desired ranges, and we discussed ways of coping with those situations.

As a result, this patient was able to feel more in control of his condition -- and his life; he successfully lost weight, reduced episodes of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia, and lowered his glycated hemoglobin (A1c).

This is why diabetes education is beneficial. It provides critical knowledge and skills, helping patients with diabetes learn to identify barriers to wellness, facilitate problem solving, and develop coping skills to effectively manage their diabetes and related chronic conditions. It also helps them work more effectively with their clinicians, resulting in better patient care.

Diabetes educators may be licensed in nursing, pharmacy, nutrition, or other medical fields. Many of these specialists carry the additional designations of Certified Diabetes Educator (CDE) or Board Certified in Advanced Diabetes Management (BC-ADM).

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