Diabetes Nurse, Diabetes Nursing Schools, Training, Jobs, and Careers

What is Diabetes Nurse?
A diabetes nurse specialist works with diabetic patients to help them control and manage their disease. Because diabetes is so complicated, the nurse has various duties including some of the following:

1. Provide education about diabetes
2. Show patients how to test their blood sugar and administer insulin
3. Examine patients
4. Administer medications
5. Obtain medical history
6. Record their observations and explain the problems to the doctor
7. Nutrition education
8. Help diabetes patient develop nutrition plans
9. Recommend and discuss changes in lifestyle that will aid in helping patients manage their diabetes
10. The diabetic nurse helps her patients minimize some of the diabetes effects such as diabetic neuropathy
11. Raise public awareness about diabetes and its risk factors

How to Become Diabetes Nurse?
The diabetic nurse has to go through rigorous training in order to finally be certified as a diabetic nurse. Just like other nurses who go on to specialize in certain fields, after graduating from an accredited high school, she should either attend a two- or four-year accredited nursing school. In most cases, it is preferable to obtain a bachelor's degree; this may be a requirement in order to become a diabetes nurse.

There are some hospitals that offer RN to BSN programs. This will allow you to start working with an associate's degree while working as a nurse and studying when your schedule allows. Sometimes you can even get tuition reimbursement. All registered nurses must study diligently and pass the NCLEX-RN exam, which is a national nursing exam, in order to be able to practice as a registered nurse.

Besides the normal courses that a student nurse would take, like anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry, pharmacology and microbiology, the student that is learning to become a diabetes nurse may take endocrinology as a subject. Most of these nurses are highly educated in the endocrine system of the human body. It is necessary to thoroughly understand the hypothalamus, thyroid, parathyroids, pineal, pituitary and adrenal glands to effectively treat diabetes.

The nurse that is going on to get her specialty in diabetes must gain two years of working on-the-job in an environment that is dedicated to offering diabetes education to patients. A total of at least 1,000 hours of experience must be accumulated in diabetes education, and these hours shall be accrued at the rate of at least four hours each day. After that is finished, she is then eligible to be able to take and pass the certification test to become a certified diabetes nurse. This test is called the Diabetes Management Certification exam.

Sometimes a hospital may require you to have a master's degree in order to work as a diabetes nurse. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has indicated that some specializations, including the diabetes nursing, requires the master's degree, but when you go to Nursingcredentials.org, their website indicates that it is preferable to have a master's degree but it suffices to have a bachelor's degree coupled with work experience.

You can usually find the diabetes nurse working in hospitals, but she may also work in doctors' offices, outpatient clinics, schools, nursing homes and sometimes even travel to the rural areas to hold clinics.

Diabetes Nurse Salary:
Diabetes nurses make decent income. The national average pay is $78,000 per year. This depends on your location and years of experience. Also keep in mind that your pay will continue to increase as you gain more experience and years of service.

Diabetes Nursing School:
Diabetes nursing schools are the same as other nursing schools, with some specialization. You can attend a school that offers RN, RN to BSN, or RN to MSN to become one.

One such school is University of Phoenix. They have campus and online programs. In fact, they are the leading innovators in online education. Follow this link to visit and get their free information.

Return from Diabetes Nurse to Medical Assistants Schools and Careers