Diabetes Nurse Educator

When you join the growing BILH team, you're not just taking a job, you're making a difference in people's lives.

Beth Israel Lahey Health Primary Care (BILHPC) is building a high performance primary care model that will enable the organization to be a leader in patient experience, provider and care team work life and quality of care both regionally and nationally. Additionally we are working to establish a diabetes education program which will provide quality care and medication-assisted therapy for patients with diabetes in an outpatient setting.


The responsibilities for the Diabetes Educator Team Nurse include partnering with providers, pharmacists, nutritionists and other members of the care team to help educate, support and improve health outcomes of patients with diabetes. The Diabetes Educator Team Nurse will serve a resource for the Region in educating and supporting people affected by diabetes to understand and manage the condition, achieve behavioral and treatment goals, and optimize health outcomes. The Diabetes Educator Team Nurse will participate in Diabetic Group sessions, provide educational sessions and tools for care teams and Team Nurses, maintain a working relationship with Joslin Care Network, and partner with BILH Primary Care Leadership 1-2 hours per month creating and presenting educational materials.

Job Description:

Primary Responsibilities:

1) The Diabetes Educator Team Nurse will perform all of the duties of a Team Nurse, including:
a. Coordinate and facilitate quality clinical management of a broad based outpatient population across the continuum of care. Collaborates with providers to identify needs for preventive care, evidence-based chronic disease management and care coordination. Provides general and specific healthcare education. Works directly with patients to identify and monitor self-management goals. (essential)
b. Collaborates care with community based providers. Follows up on ED visits and inpatient discharges. Assists providers with exams, treatments and procedures as needed. (essential)
c. Provides skilled telephonic triage and assessment, education, collaboration and coordination of healthcare and community resources. Performs a direct patient care role. Nursing visits include : Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs) and Chronic Care Management (CCM) of our BIDHC patients. (essential)
d. Responsible for INR management and teaching for those patients on Coumadin using a standardized protocol. (essential)
e. Administers vaccines and medications by parenteral, oral, rectal or nasal route by orders of the prescribing provider and by the Medication Administration policy guidelines established by BIDHC . Provides patient education as appropriate for the administered medication. (essential)
f. Performs a wide range of nursing activities as needed under the direction of the provider such as wound care, point of care testing etc. Accurately documents all aspects of patient care in the Electronic Health Record in a timely basis. Schedules tests and referrals for specialty care on order of provider. (essential)
g. Monitors and ensures follow up of all abnormal test and imaging results under the direction of the provider. (essential)
h. Oversees the inventory and ordering management of clinical supplies and equipment as necessary. Ensures safe, accurate and clinically appropriate collection, storage and processing of all biologic specimens. (essential)
i. Provides oversight, delegation and acts as a resource to unlicensed staff including MAs, Certified Nursing Assistants and Nursing Students. Provides on-going education and training to practice staff. Updates clinical knowledge and skills though consultation, review of literature and formal and informal education including CEUs. Maintains compliance with organizational mandatory annual training. (essential)
j. The Team Nurse will ensure that PHI (Patient Health Information) will only be used for the purposes of patient TPO (treatment, payment and operations). The Team Nurse will ensure patient safety practices to prevent/eliminate risk of patient harm. Adverse patient events and near misses will be promptly reported to the BIDHC Risk Management Dept. (essential)

2) The Diabetes Educator Team Nurse will perform the following duties related specifically to diabetes education:
a. Perform clinical and psychosocial assessment of diabetes patients in either an individual or group setting.
b. Identify educational needs for diabetes self-management knowledge and skills.
c. Develop and implement a plan of care based on clinical expertise, scientific principles and the patients' lifestyle and culture.
d. Empower diabetes patients with knowledge and skills to attain optimal control and prevent acute/chronic complications.
e. Educate in areas of medication administration, self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG), continuous glucose monitoring systems (CGMS), pump therapy, nutrition, exercise, recognition & treatment of acute complications and preventive health skills in accordance with current clinical practice recommendations utilizing learning objectives and behavioral goals.
f. Monitor patients' response to therapy and revise plan as indicated.
g. Prevent/decrease incidence of complications by supporting preventive health risk behaviors. (Ophthalmology, podiatry, lipids, A1C, urine M/A)
h. Conduct ongoing quality improvement studies.
i. Support hospital policies and procedures while sustaining a safe environment.
j. Recognize the importance of continuous diabetes education and self-learning needs while maintaining current skills and knowledge.
k. Provides educational sessions and tools for care team.

I. Required Qualifications:
1. Graduate from an accredited Nursing Program required. Bachelor's degree preferred.
2. 1-3 years related work experience required.
3. Strong interpersonal skills. Strong patient communication and patient education skills.
4. Advanced skills with Microsoft applications which may include Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Access and other web-based applications. May produce complex documents, perform analysis and maintain databases.

II. Licensure, Certification, Registration
1. License Registered Nurse required, or Registration Licensed Practical Nurse required, and Certificate 1 Basic Life Support required.
2. Certified Diabetic Care Educator and Specialist (CDCES) required.
3. CPR Certification

III. Preferred Qualifications:
1. Experience in using diabetes technologies preferred

IV. Competencies:
1. Decision Making: Ability to make decisions that are guided by general instructions and practices requiring some interpretation. May make recommendations for solving problems of moderate complexity and importance.
2. Problem Solving: Ability to address problems that are varied, requiring analysis or interpretation of the situation using direct observation, knowledge and skills based on general precedents.
3. Independence of Action: Ability to set goals and determines how to accomplish defined results with some guidelines. Manager/Director provides broad guidance and overall direction.
4. Written Communications: Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in written English with internal and external customers.
5. Oral Communications: Ability to comprehend and converse in English to communicate effectively with medical center staff, patients, families and external customers.
6. Knowledge: Ability to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of concepts, practices and policies with the ability to use them in complex varied situations.
7. Team Work: Ability to act as a team leader for projects or work groups, creating a collaborative and respectful team environment and improving workflows. Results may impact the operations of one or more departments.
8. Customer Service: Ability to provide a high level of customer service to colleagues and patients and external customers in a professional, service-oriented, respectful manner using skills in active listening and problem solving.


V. Physical Requirements:
Medium work: Exerting up to 50 pounds of force occasionally and or up to 20 pounds of force frequently. Job is physical in nature and employee needs to stand and/or move around through the majority of their shift.
This job requires frequent walking, standing, bending neck, bending waist, twisting neck, twisting waist, Power Grasping using both hands, Fine Manipulation using both hands, Pushing/Pulling using both hands, Keyboard use, Reaching-above shoulder height, Reaching-below shoulder height, Lifting and carrying items weighing up to 10 lbs. There may be occasional Lifting and carrying items weighing up to 25 lbs.

Pay Range:
$34.20 - $73.39

The pay range listed for this position is the base hourly wage range the organization reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for this position at this time. Actual compensation is determined based on several factors, that may include seniority, education, training, relevant experience, relevant certifications, geography of work location, job responsibilities, or other applicable factors permissible by law. Compensation may exceed the base hourly rate depending on shift differentials, call pay, premium pay, overtime pay, and other additional pay practices, as applicable to the position and in accordance with the law.

As a health care organization, we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to care for and protect our patients, our colleagues and our communities. Beth Israel Lahey Health requires that all staff be vaccinated against influenza (flu) as a condition of employment.

More than 35,000 people working together. Nurses, doctors, technicians, therapists, researchers, teachers and more, making a difference in patients' lives. Your skill and compassion can make us even stronger.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled