What Nurses Know...Diabetes

In the United States, 23.6 million people-7.8 percent of the population— have diabetes. Diabetes can lead to serious complications, including blindness, kidney damage, cardiovascular disease, peripheral neuropathy, and lower-limb amputations, but people with diabetes can lower the occurrence of these and other diabetes complications by controlling blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids.

What Nurses Know...Diabetes sheds new light on this disease from a trusted source: nurses. The nurse practitioner is slowly becoming the first-line in health care—in upcoming years they will be replacing doctors as our primary care practitioners. This book provides down-to-earth information and explains clearly what a person needs to know and wants to know to understand about diabetes so they can move forward with their lives.

"What Nurses Know..." boxed information including special tips, fun facts, and things that only a nurse would know

Definitions of common terms

Resources, online tools, and specific websites to help those living with diabetes

Rita Girouard Mertig has been an RN for 43 years with a Master of Science degree for 40 years. She recently retired after 21 years teaching nursing. She has also lived with Type 1 diabetes for 25 years. Rita is a member of both the American Association of Diabetes Educators and American Diabetes Association. She was the recipient of the 1989 American Diabetes Association/Virginia affiliate "Diabetes Educator of the Year" Award. She served on the Board of Directors of the Richmond Chapter of the American Diabetes Association and led a support group for people with diabetes who were using insulin in Richmond.