HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Childs, B. P. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Childs, B. P. Social Bookmarking                What's this?

The Complexity of Diabetes Care

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

How do people who live with diabetes day in and day out manage the increasing complexity of the disease? For that matter, how do health professionals keep up with the ever-changing world of diabetes care? As an advanced practice diabetes nurse specialist, I am sometimes overwhelmed by the complexity of diabetes care. I collaborate with patients approximately 180 days a year, 12–15 individual appointments each day. Not only the treatment options, but also the day-to-day lives of our patients are complex.

What a stimulating time to be involved in diabetes care! We have had two first-in-class medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the past 6 months. Others are on the way. In the past 10 years, multiple new oral agents, combination medications, and new insulin analogs have come to market. We now understand the importance of managing hyperglycemia in the hospital. We have substantial evidence that the management of hypertension and lipids will reduce mortality and morbidity. There are multiple options available to treat blood pressure and lipids, including several combination medications. We have more data available from our glucose monitoring devices. There is more sophisticated insulin pump technology. And glucose sensors are on the horizon.

But how do we keep up with these advances? How do we continue to educate and collaborate with primary care providers and other health care practitioners? How do we help them make sense of all the new medications and treatment advances? How do we help them implement the standards of care? Quite frankly, there are days I . . . [Full Text of this Article]

CiteULike    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?