The present status of diabetes education and the role recognition as a diabetes educator of nurses in Korea

Recently, many hospitals and clinics in Korea offer an education programs for patients and their families. The purpose of this study is to identify the present status of diabetes education program in Korea and to identify the role perception of nurses who participated in education programs. In this study, 74 diabetes nurse educator who have a diabetes educator certificate and 78 diabetes educator who work in community health care center were enrolled. They were asked about the diabetes education programs in detail and the role of diabetes nurse educators through a questionnaire. About 49.4% of the education team consisted of a doctor, a nurse and a dietician. Regarding the type of education program, the group education was 93.2% and the individual education was 59.5%. Nurse educators recognized that their role should be put emphasized on and the active role of the most time-consuming were an educator, counselor, professional nurse in practice and a facilitator. There are many education programs in Korea, and those are not standardized. Because diabetes education is the essential part of diabetes management, educators need to make an effort to standardize and systematize the education programs.