Spotlight - Managing your Diabetes: Working with Your Diabetes Educator
As many people with diabetes know, regular visits with their healthcare
providers are one great way to keep diabetes under control.
One of the most valuable members of your diabetes care team
is a certified diabetes educator, or CDE. CDEs can be any
type of health care provider-podiatrists, registered nurses,
doctors, counselors, etc.-who teaches or cares for people
with diabetes. They work in a variety of healthcare settings,
including hospitals, clinics, diabetes centers or private
has to meet the following criteria in order to become certified:
degree in the health professions (such as registered nurse,
physician, registered dietician, pharmacist, social worker,
minimum of two years in diabetes education
completion of a comprehensive examination, which covers
physiology, drug treatment, blood glucose testing, complications,
mental health issues and others.
to go through a re-credentialing process every five years.
This ensures they keep their diabetes knowledge updated.
would I need a CDE for?
can be helpful to you in a wide variety of
ways. Here are just a few examples:
been hearing a lot about the insulin pump, but you're not
sure it's right for you. You're not completely comfortable
with the idea of wearing something mechanical on your body
all day long. But you've heard it can really help control
your blood sugar. You'd love to sit down with someone knowledgeable
and talk about the pros and cons of the pump and find out
if the lifestyle you have is suitable for it.
had diabetes for a few years now, and you feel like you
have a pretty good understanding of what kind of food you
should eat. But family members and friends are driving you
crazy. Every time they see you put something in your mouth,
they say, "Is it okay for you to eat that?" It's making
you angry, and you'd like advice about how to respond.
teenager has had diabetes since she was five years old.
She was great about taking care of herself until about a
year ago. Now she's rebelling. She goes out with her friends
and eats all the wrong foods. You're certain she's not testing
her blood sugar as often as she should be, even though she
tells you she is. Every time you try to talk to her about
it, she gets angry, goes into her room and slams her door.
You need to find out how to deal with her.
been a while since you've taken a good look at your total
diabetes care. It seems like you don't always feel as well
as you could, and you're wondering whether there's something
new you could be doing to control your blood sugar. You're
a little bit embarrassed about this, because you feel like
you should know more about taking care of yourself than
you really do.
you've seen these examples, maybe you can think of questions
and problems about diabetes you've had in your own life. You
can be sure that a diabetes educator will be able to help.
These professionals can look at your situation in a nonjudgmental
way and work with you to come up with solutions you feel comfortable
are a couple of ways to find a diabetes educator if you don't
already have one. Your primary care doctor should be able
to help recommend someone. Or you can go to the Web site for
the American Association of Diabetes Educators (http://www.aadenet.org).
Click on Find an Educator, on the left side of the page.
American Diabetes Association