Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects millions of people all over the world. This course presents the basics of diabetes, current medical treatments, and nursing care for people with diabetes. 

The goal of this course is to educate nursing professionals in all settings on basic pathophysiology, diagnosis, complications, and management of diabetes.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (2021), an estimated 37 million people in the U.S. are currently living with renal disease. It ranks among the top causes of death. Often caused by hypertension or diabetes, chronic kidney disease, which is the most prevalent type of kidney disease, is treatable with medication and lifestyle modification. Unfortunately, an estimated 90% of people with chronic kidney disease do not know they have it and therefore do not receive the necessary care to prolong or improve their quality of life. When you understand the underlying risk factors, you can better recognize symptoms, educate, treat, and prevent further kidney damage. This course discusses the pathophysiology of renal disease. It also discusses a nurse’s role in assessing, managing, and educating people with a diagnosis of renal disease.

While the demand for emergency department (ED) care remains high, EDs continue to decline in number nationwide. Those that remain are overcrowded and at capacity, often having patients wait hours or even days to be admitted. Although many seek care in the ED for an acute injury or illness, others seek treatment for acute exacerbations of poorly managed chronic illness, such as diabetes, or management of a chronic illness in the absence of an acute problem, such as for blood pressure control and cardiac or asthma medication refills. The ED has become the largest provider of unscheduled primary care visits, seriously stressing the healthcare safety net. Patients in the ED are staying longer for prolonged observation and complex diagnostic workups. There is an increasing number of critically ill patients being treated and cared for in the ED rather than the critical and intensive care unit. Additionally, chronic mental and psychiatric patients often seek treatment in the ED rather than with individual providers. This has resulted in overcrowding in the ED, putting strain on its personnel.

The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is increasing in the U.S. and worldwide. However, if the condition is well managed, it can result in a healthy pregnancy. Maternal child health professionals must understand the condition, risk factors, and how to treat it.

A common complication of pregnancy is gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). GDM is a type of diabetes that develops in pregnant women who normally do not have diabetes. Proper diet, exercise, and pharmacological interventions can help your patient have a healthy pregnancy and baby. The goal of this course is to educate nurses and registered dietitians in acute care settings on current screening recommendations, diagnostic criteria, blood glucose goals, and treatment interventions for GDM. 

Nurses working with older adults will likely encounter wounds. Both acute and chronic wounds are more likely to occur in older adults than their younger counterparts because of the chronic conditions associated with the wounds, such as vascular disease, venous insufficiency, and diabetes mellitus. This course discusses the effects aging has on the skin’s function. It also discusses common wounds seen in older adults.