November is Diabetes Awareness Month
The Wisconsin Nurses Association held the Annual WNA Diabetes Care and Education Conference September 28-27, 2024 at the Kalahari Resort & Convention Center.
The purpose of the conference was to provide the most recent evidence-based practices on diabetes care and management for healthcare professionals. The activities included 15 educational topics, three product theaters, 28 exhibitors, eight poster displays with three live presentations, and the opportunity to apply and wear a glucose monitoring sensor.
Background
WNA was an active partner in a CDC, Wisconsin DHS Bureau of Public Health chronic disease and prevent grant from 2018 – 2021. One of the areas of focus was increasing nurse awareness of the latest clinical information on diabetes, promoting diabetes self-management education programs in primary care and community projects. WNA’s first diabetes conference was supported by the CDC/DHS/DPH grant funds. WNA remains committed to working with diabetes-related organizations and experts in providing an annual diabetes conference for all health care providers.
What the data shows about diabetes:
- 4 million Americans—or about 11.6% of the U.S. population—have diabetes.[1]
- 7 million Americans are unaware that they have diabetes.
- Approximately 97.6 million people ages 18 or older have prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
- More than 8 in 10 adults living with prediabetes don’t know they have it.[2]
- About half of women with gestational diabetes go on to develop type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that women develop when they are pregnant.[3]
- For Wisconsin 1 in 11 people in Wisconsin have diabetes, further breakdown on this data shows:
- 1 in 10 Native American people have diabetes
- 1 in 7 African American people have diabetes
- 1 in 5 Hispanic American people have diabetes
The risk for developing pre-diabetes includes the following conditions
| •Being overweight | •Having polycystic ovary syndrom |
| •Being 45 or older | •Having high blood pressure |
| •Having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes | •Being a man |
| •Physically active less than three times per week | •Belonging to certain racial or ethnic groups, including African American, Latinx American, American Indian, Pacific Islander, and some Asian American communities |
| •Ever having gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds | •Experiencing trauma, abuse or neglect during childhood. |
Nurses Role in Diabetes Care and Education
| Treatment and Management | Acute: Identifying and treating life-threatening complications of diabetes, such as diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar hyperglycemic syndrome
Follow-up: Monitor patients' blood sugar levels, vitals, and other health metrics. They also monitor the effectiveness of treatments
|
| Education and Information | Patient teaching about diabetes
Management,
Preventing complications
|
| Assessment of barriers | Identify social determinants of health and work on access to care and self-management. |
| Encourage healthy habits | Support patient understanding of engaging in regular checkups, maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, and getting vaccinated against pneumonia and influenza. They also encourage patients to stop smoking and avoid alcohol. |
| Avoid stigma - language referring to persons with diabetes, can express negative and disparaging attitudes which most often contribute to an already stressful experience of living with diabetes. | Use “person-first language” (Example) Linda has diabetes (instead of Linda is a diabetic). This places emphasis on the person, rather than the disability or disease.
Use “strengths-based language” (Example) Linda takes her insulin 50% of the time because of cost concerns. (Instead of Linda continues to be non-compliant in taking her insulin when she should.). |
WNA Resources
WNA recorded four sessions from the 2024 Conference that offers continuing education credit.
COMING SOON!
The self-study offerings are:
Beyond Type 1 and Type 2: Genetic causes of diabetes and new categories of classification.
Kidneys and Kale: Preventative kidney care associated with diabetes-related implications.
Treating Obesity vs Treating Type 2 Diabetes: are they one in the same?
Pediatric Type 2 Diabetes - Not Your Grandma's Diabetes
[1] National Diabetes Statistics Report. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Updated November 29, 2023. Accessed January 22, 2024. www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics-report/index.htm
[2] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The surprising truth about prediabetes. Updated July 7, 2022. Accessed January, 22 2024. www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/truth-about-prediabetes.html External link
[3] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gestational diabetes. Updated December 30, 2022. Accessed January 22, 2024. www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/gestational.html
[4] Diabetes. State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Accessed November 10, 2024.
https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/diabetes/index.htm
[5]Dickinson JK, Guzman SJ, Maryniuk MD, O'Brian CA, Kadohiro JK, Jackson RA, D'Hondt N, Montgomery B, Close KL, Funnell MM. The Use of Language in Diabetes Care and Education. Diabetes Care. 2017 Dec;40(12):1790-1799. doi: 10.2337/dci17-0041. Epub 2017 Oct 17. PMID: 29042412.
