November is Diabetes Awareness Month: VMH Diabetes Education Team is growing

by Angie Mettille, RN, BSN, CDCES

Diabetes, especially Type 2, is a diagnosis becoming exponentially more common in northeast Iowa and across the country. There are many tools to treat Type 2 Diabetes such as medications, exercise and nutrition, but the most powerful and useful tool is knowledge. Knowledge doesn’t need to be refrigerated, and never expires. Educating our patients on ways they can control their blood sugars provides them with the tools they will need to live safely and in the healthiest way possible.

The VMH education team is expanding to meet our patients’ needs. Brittney Snitker, Pharm. D, BCPS, CDCES has joined current educators Angie Mettille, RN, BSN, CDCES and Jill Fleming MS, RD/LD. Brittney is our VMH pharmacist and is also certified as a diabetes educator. She will assist in providing education to inpatients that live with diabetes, as well as outpatient coverage as needed. She will also help teach group Diabetes Self-Management Classes held at VMH throughout the year.

A diabetes educator can help you develop a plan to stay healthy and give you the tools you need to navigate the various curveballs that diabetes can throw at you. One thing is sure, the more support you have, the more successful you can be. It is often said, it takes a village to raise a child. This is also true for diabetes; it takes a village to control diabetes. That village, or team, consists of your physician, your physician’s nurses, a nurse diabetes educator, dietician, pharmacist, podiatrist, optometrist, dentist, as well as others.

It’s likely when you have diabetes, you are taking medications, so you are likely to see your physician and his or her nurses on a regular basis to get labs completed and your necessary medications ordered. You are likely to run into your retail pharmacist when you pick up those medications. But what about your diabetes educators? When is it a good time to see your nurse diabetes educator and dietician? Do you have to wait until your blood sugars are out of control? The answer is no. Diabetes education should be a part of your yearly, or more often if needed, routine. The best time for diabetes education is:

1. When you’re first diagnosed with diabetes.
2. Following your annual exam with your physician for a review of your treatment plan.
3. If complications arise such as vision changes, cardiac disease or stroke, kidney disease, neuropathy, persistent infections, or wounds that are not healing as they should.
4. During changes in your healthcare treatment. Examples of this would be:
• different recommendations on meal planning or physical activity,
• new medications to treat diabetes,
• an event in your life that has changed how you care for your diabetes such as a loss of a spouse that supported you, a stroke that affects your thought process or fine motor skills, a new financial burden that makes it difficult to afford your diabetes medications, or if you have noticed your vision isn’t what it used to be and you’re having problems seeing those little lines on your insulin syringes. Whatever problem is causing your blood sugars to be too low or too high, your diabetes educators can help you design a specific plan that will work for you and your life.

For more information, contact the Diabetes Education Department at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411 ext. 172.