An Inpatient Diabetes Educator's Impact on Length of Hospital Stay

Abstract

This study assessed the impact of an inpatient diabetes education program on: 1) staff nurses' and patients' knowledge about diabetes, 2) hospital length of stay, and 3) patients'glycemic control. Over the course of 1 year, a certified diabetes educator updated nursing staff about diabetes care and education and coordinated a diabetes education program on two experimental medical units. Length of stay of insuliti-requiritig patients with diabetes and their diabetes knowledge and glycemic control were compared with two control medical units that received no structured diabetes education program. Results showed a significant difference in length of stay and patient knowledge between experimental and control units. Three conditions commonly associated with diabetes (diabetic ketoacidosis, osteomyelitis, foot ulcer) did not account for this difference in length of stay. There was no significant difference between the groups in glycemic control following discharge. While all groups showed improvement in their glycosylated hemoglobin values, only the change in the values of the total population and the control groups was significant. The findings suggest that a Certified Diabetes Educator can decrease length of stay in the hospital setting.