The figure of a nurse educator improves HbA1c levels and lipid profile in patients with type 1 diabetes

Diabetes education has proved to be an essential tool in the care of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. To perform this educational task, the VII Area Murcia East Diabetes Unit, incorporated nurses in advanced diabetes education in the Hospital General Universitario Reina Sofía of Murcia. We carried out a retrospective study, which assessed the performance of these nurses by evaluating the type 1 diabetic patients attending inquiries between 2007 and 2011. We analyzed a total of 179 medical records, of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus over 11 years, with 103 (52.3%) males and 94 (47.7%) women. Patients had a mean age 38.25 ± 14.02 years and a mean duration of diabetes of 16.22 ± 11.73 years. The initial mean value of HbA1c was 8.49 ± 2.04%. Only 37 (16.2%) of the 197 patients were under 25 at the start of the study. The results showed that the decrease in HbA1c (-0.57 ± 1.80%) was significant after 6 months (p = 0.002) from the first query, reaching values of 7.86 ± 1.39% and remained from that time. Insulin doses were stable throughout the study.