How To Become A Certified Diabetes Educator
According to the American Diabetes Association, an estimated 30.3 million people in the U.S.over 9 percent of the total populationlive with diabetes. Keeping their conditions under control requires careful monitoring, regularly taking any prescribed medication and making informed diet, fitness and other lifestyle choices.
A diabetes educator plays a vital part in supporting diabetics by offering guidance and encouragement. They help patients take charge of their lives and follow through with the necessary changes for managing the disease successfully.
When you explore how to become a certified diabetes educator , you may find that there are several different educational paths that could lead you to success in this field. Earning an online Master of Social Work or a Master of Science in Nutrition degree might each help you to progress toward your professional goals. Heres what you need to know about starting your career as a health educator for people with diabetes:
Making The Most Of Your Diabetes Educator Visit: Top 6 Tips
We asked our expert Certified Diabetes Educators: What are the priority things you wish your patients would do to prepare for a fruitful session with you? Here is a compilation of what they told us:
1. Ask questions! Write down a list of questions in advance and share them with the educator at the beginning of your appointment, to be sure they get covered. Be persistent, and dont leave until you have answers.
2. Work with the right person. Make sure your CDE is a good fit for you that you feel comfortable with them and can communicate openly with them. Make visiting your CDE something you look forward to, not dread!
3. Bring your stuff! Make sure you have your glucose and/or insulin delivery devices with you, along with your blood glucose records either in a log book, a software printout form, or by sharing data via an online or mobile application*. Ideally your records should capture structured glucose data before and after meals to help identify how the food you eat and your physical activity impact your blood glucose. Also, know your most recent A1C test result. Only armed with this information can a CDE help you problem solve to identify changes you may want to make to improve glucose values.
The Role Of The Certified Diabetes Nurse Educator In The Healthcare Provider Shortage
The Bureau of Labor Statistics cites that employment for nurses will increase at a rate of 16% by 2024. There is a national shortage of nurses in general related to the Baby Boomer population entering retirement, and the increased health needs of the growing aging population. It is projected that the South and West will be hardest hit by the nursing shortage. The 12 states expected to have the most acute shortages are Florida, Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and New Mexico.
Just as there is an increasing demand for nurses, in general, the need and demand for certified diabetes nurse educators is projected to increase 12% by 2024. As diabetes is a leading cause of death and disability, it is expected that the need for certified diabetes nurse educators will increase, due, in part, to the aging population and increased incidence of age-related diabetes. An added factor is the nationwide physician shortage as a result, certified diabetes nurse educators are needed to help primary care providers manage patients with diabetes and ensure optimal patient care outcomes.
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What Is A Credentialled Diabetes Educator
A Credentialled Diabetes Educator is someone who has undertaken further education and accreditation to assist and support those suffering from Diabetes. CDEs are found in a variety of places including hospitals, healthcare centres, medical centres and doctors practices.
They are able to:
- Educate and train the patient/client around the condition
- Provide care and help manage the condition through nutrition and lifestyle changes
- Introduce and educate around insulin therapy
- Manage medications effectively and safely
- Provide education on medications, including actions, timing, side effects, interactions
- Provide education on self monitoring blood glucose technique and interpretation of results
- Provide foot care& assessment
- Help implement strategies and set goals for self-management
- Educate on the relationship between Diabetes and other health problems including impact of concurrent conditions
- Educate on Diabetes complications
If you are looking for further clarification on the scope of practice for a CDE/APD, you can read all about it in this joint statement from Australian Diabetes Eduactor Association and Dietitians Australia .
Sound like something youd be interested in doing? Keep reading to find out what it takes!
How Will A Cde Be Useful To Me And How Do I Get One
A CDE can help you to come to terms with, make sense of, and understand a new diagnosis of diabetes. They can offer tips and tricks that you may not have thought of. They can show you how to appropriately count your carbohydrates, balance your nutrition and activity level with you medicines, and live a healthier life with diabetes. Together, as part of your healthcare team, your CDE can assist you to set goals that will make a difference in your long term over-all management of diabetes.
Research has shown that receiving diabetes education helps people with diabetes achieve an A1C of less than 7, which leads to less complications of diabetes, and a longer life.
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Making The Most Of Your First Trip
You can make sure that you get the most out of your visit with your CDE by preparing for your appointment. You may want to write down any questions that you have to ask your CDE. Think about your goals for your diabetes education. It may be that you are sedentary, and the first thing that you need to concentrate on is getting more activity.
Be honest with yourself.
Write down the things that motivate you to live a healthy life with diabetes. These could be your children, or your grandchildren. Perhaps you want to be able to spend time with them, and wish to develop better habits so that you will be able to. Perhaps you have a specific goal related to lowering your A1C below a specific point, so that you can have some needed surgery. Whatever your reasons that have motivated you to go to diabetes education classes, write these down to share with your CDE.
Learn what your numbers are, such as what your A1C and cholesterol levels are. Dont forget to take your glucometer, and all of your supplies with you to your visit. Also, take all of your medications or a list of your medication with you when you go to your appointment.
Its great to keep a log of all of your blood sugars, what you ate, how much and what kind of exercise you got, for a week or two before you go to see your diabetes educator. Then he or she can assess your patterns, and make suggestions for changes to impact your blood sugar and A1C numbers for the better.
What Is A Credentialled Diabetes Educator 1
A CDE is a health professional who has been recognised by the Australian Diabetes Educators Association for their specialist knowledge and professional development in the field of diabetes education.
CDE status is recognised by: Medicare Australia, the Department of Veterans Affairs and by some private health insurers. CDE is a registered trademark.1
Credentialling is a detailed and rigorous process designed to uphold the integrity of the CDE status. To be recognised and maintain CDE status, you must demonstrate ongoing participation in professional development within the specialty of diabetes education.
A CDE may be a:
- Registered Nurse
- Registered Midwife
- Registered Physiotherapist
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How To Become A Diabetes Educator Nurse In 5 Steps
As a medical professional, there are ways you can help educate the public about chronic illness. If you have an interest and background in caring for diabetes patients, you may choose to teach about this disease. With your instruction, you can help those affected by diabetes live healthier lives. In this article, we explain how to become a diabetes educator nurse along with everything this role entails.
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Is Being A Diabetes Educator Worth It
Diabetes Education Lesson Plan Outlines provide information about diabetes self-care and many can be adapted for diabetes prevention education.
These abbreviated lesson plans also offer quick access to related education materials, as well as background materials for educators to reference as they prepare for the lesson.
The successful outcomes of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Diabetes Prevention and Healthy Heart Programs led to the development of toolkits to share their experiences and lessons learned.
The successful outcomes of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians Diabetes Prevention and Healthy Heart Programs led to the development of toolkits to share their experiences and lessons learned.
With the right lifestyle changes, people with prediabetes and diabetes can prevent or manage the disease and vastly improve their quality of life and longevity but making those changes without support can be difficult.
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Schools Considered For The List
We started with all schools classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as doctoral research universities, masters colleges and universities and baccalaureate colleges, along with some special-focus categories including business, engineering and art schools, such as Rhode Island School of Design or Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. We narrowed the list to schools that had sufficient data available from five other sources. Those include two huge data sets compiled by the U.S. Department of Education, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System , and the U.S. Department of Educations College Scorecard, created by the Obama administration in 2013 to track information about students who receive federal financial aid. We also use information from PayScale, a privately-owned website with a vast amount of self-reported salary data and Niche, another privately owned site that draws from tens of millions of student surveys. Two high-performing schools, Hillsdale and Grove City College, do not receive federal funding and thus do not appear in the College Scorecard their other data is re-weighed to account for the lack of debt data.
Schools Considered For The List
Schools Considered For The List
Schools Considered For The List
What Is A Diabetes Educator Nurse
A diabetes educator nurse is a medical professional who helps diabetes patients better understand their condition and how to live with it. When working in this role, you may also educate their guardians or loved ones on the proper care of this group of diseases. In order to work in this specialized role, you need to be highly knowledgeable about the treatment and monitoring of diabetes patients’ health.
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Does Diabetes Education Really Work
Yes, it does.
For example, it helps you keep good blood sugar levels. There’s research to suggest that diabetes education can lower your risk of complications like nerve and kidney damage, which helps you avoid dialysis and gives you a better quality of life. Knowing what’s going on with your body also helps you feel more in control of your health.
One study of more than 1,200 people who got four 30-minute, one-on-one sessions with diabetes educators had impressive results. Folks in the study learned about important self-care strategies, like:
- Healthy eating
- Dealing with potential problems
They also had the chance to participate in group sessions.
After 15 months, they lowered their A1c levels by an average of 67%. Their LDL, or bad cholesterol, went down by 53%. Before the study, about 1/3 had high blood pressure after the study, only 1/4 had it.
Who Is A Credentialled Diabetes Educator
A CDE is a health professional who has undertaken a rigorous credentialling program and has specialist knowledge in the field of diabetes education. CDE is an ADEA registered trademark, and ADEA determines who can use it.
The CDE certification provides assurance to people living with, or at risk of, diabetes as well as their families, carers and health care providers that they will receive quality diabetes education and advice.
CDEs must demonstrate their ongoing professional development within the specialty of diabetes education in accordance with the ADEA Credentialling and Re-Credentialling Program to gain and maintain recognition as a CDE.
Health professionals from the following professions are eligible to undertake the credentialling program to become a CDE:
- Registered Nurse
- Registered Midwife
- Registered Physiotherapist
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Faq Diabetes Educator Program
What is Diabetes?Diabetes is a condition in which the body either cannot produce insulin or cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. If it is left untreated or improperly managed, the high levels of blood sugar associated with diabetes can slowly damage both the small and large blood vessels in the body, resulting in a variety of complications.
What does a Diabetes Educator do?Diabetes Educators partner with patients and their families to teach diabetes self-management and help patients gain control of their disease.
Why become a Diabetes Educator?The combination of an aging population and the rapidly escalating incidence of diabetes is increasing the global demand for Diabetes Educators. Since the 1920s, education has been recognized as key to the management of diabetes. Health professionals working in diabetes education are experts not only in the disease state, but also in teaching and behavior change. The role of the Diabetes Educator has grown from being an expert giving out information, to one of facilitator, helping people with diabetes to manage the disease themselves.
Will completing this program make me a Certified Diabetes Educator?While this certificate program will equip you with the skills and knowledge to work as a diabetes educator, graduating from this program does not make you a Certified Diabetes Educator . To become certified in Canada, you must pass an exam administered by the Canadian Diabetes Educator Certification Board .
Diabetes Educator: Education Requirements
Specialized education can build your skills in assisting people with diabetes and help you to qualify for certain jobs. Professionals with a masters degree in social work may be prepared to counsel patients and their families so they can adapt to the changes in their lives. Healthcare social workers have the knowledge and experience to help people plan for the long term as they navigate their treatment.
Some positions require a masters degree in nutrition, which helps educators understand the complex role that diet plays in maintaining a healthy lifestyle with diabetes. The right nutritional choices can help diabetics control their blood sugar, respond better to insulin and lower their risk for cardiovascular disease. Several common eating patterns have been shown to help people with diabetes sustain a healthier lifestyle:
- Vegetarian or vegan
- Mediterranean, which focuses on plant-based foods with some dairy, fish and poultry
- Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension , which is specifically designed to lower blood pressure
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What Is A Certified Diabetes Educator
About one in ten Americans have some form of diabetes, and many more are pre-diabetic. Although diabetes is a condition that patients can live with for a very long time, the adjustment is a big one. Certified diabetes educators work with patients that have just been diagnosed with diabetes and help them adjust to the lifestyle changes they need in order to make to manage the disease.Certified diabetes educators help with all aspects of living with diabetes. They teach patients how to use medical equipment that is new to them, such as glucose monitors and insulin pumps. They can also help them plan out any lifestyle changes they need to make to manage the condition, for example by creating meal plans.Because they provide such a valuable service, it is crucial that a certified diabetes educator knows exactly what they are talking about. That is why most certified diabetes educators are medical professionals, such as registered nurses. Usually, they also need to be certified by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Certified Diabetes Educator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $30.29 an hour? That’s $62,994 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 14,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
Become A Registered Nurse
Before becoming a diabetes educator nurse, you must become a licensed registered nurse. You can do this by enrolling in an accredited nursing program to earn your Bachelor of Science degree, typically taking four years to complete. During your program, expect to learn about all kinds of sciences, such as biology, chemistry and anatomy. During your later years of nursing school, you’ll also need to complete clinicals to get a full understanding of patient care.
After graduating from your nursing program, you need to earn your RN license in order to legally practice as a registered nurse. You can obtain your license by passing the NCLEX-RN exam in the state you wish to work. This is a rigorous test, making it important to study well in advance and quiz yourself with practice questions.
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Where Do Diabetes Educators Work
Diabetes educators work in many different areas. Common locations for employment include hospitals, community centers, outreach program centers, health fairs, clinics, doctors offices, and home care companies. Your duties and responsibilities can vary based on where you work. For example, if you work for a traveling health fair, you may need presentation skills and the ability to persuade people to visit their doctor to get checked for diabetes. If you provide home care, you may need to live with a homebound patient and perform all testing and treatment on their behalf.