Thank You Lisa for a comprehensive report on the state meeting and some of our challenges!
LIGHTS OUT!!! Lisa G. Laird, RN BSN CDE - Leader Southeast Pennsylvania LNG
Where were you on Friday April 19, 2013? Two hundred health care professionals gathered together at the Gettysburg Wyndham Hotel to gain excellence in the practice of diabetes education at our Second Annual Pennsylvania State Diabetes Conference.
The storm blew through Chicago prohibiting flights and the arrival of James Specker, our AADE State Advocacy Manager. With technology on our side, we were able to Skype him into our conference and forward our momentum to define our scope of practice. The largest barrier toward safe practice (defined for public safety) and reimbursement for the BC-ADM or CDE in the Affordable Care Act is defining our legal scope of practice with state legislative approval. Extensive education and practice hours are mandated for current certification and hinder more credentialed educators leaving a dearth. Remember, the BC-ADM and CDE will be grandfathered in as licensed. Stay tuned.
Lightning struck Friday morning. We’re not sure if it did literally, but the effect was the same. Across the hotel each of us can recount where we were when the lights went out – just around 8 am. Oh, and not only in our hotel but we had reports of 13 counties being affected by one transformer! How resourceful are we? How resilient? Did you have to ask? We rallied under great leadership and ingenuity. Candles were lit in the conference center from dinner the night before and Gary Scheiner, MS, CDE, stepped up equipped with a symbol to take us through the Top Ten Techniques for Hitting Glucose Targets! Carol Oxenreiter of JDRF followed and not only enlightened us about beta cell regeneration, encapsulation and the artificial pancreas but enlightened the room – we were back in power and so appreciative! There was an audible and collective sigh of relief.
Surgical Treatment and the Prevention of Diabetes presented by Ann Rogers, MD, led us up to our Sanofi sponsored lunch and inservice on short and long-acting GLP-1 analogs. BD followed with lecture on EBP use of shorter needle length and generously sponsored the breakfast buffet.
Donna Tomky delivered a strong review of the 2012 National Standards of DSMT & S. Facilitating behavior change is key in our practice. Molly Kellogg equipped us with a sampling of intensive counseling that included practice sessions on one another. We left informed and changed in our perspective. One of her slides on our mindset summarized our event – “Begin every day expecting to be surprised and you will be”.
Pat Adams had the pleasure of announcing the First Annual Recipient of the Pennsylvania AADE Foundation Scholarship Award to Arlene Feleccia! Let’s all consider joining her at our National Conference in Philadelphia August 7-10, 2013. Thanks go out to everyone participating to make this event happen and special thanks to Marilyn Clougherty, education lead of the Coordinating Body (CB).
Donna Tomky complimented the CB on their perseverance and ability to overcome obstacles. Grace under pressure. Isn’t that what we are all about and do every day in practice?
And then there was light.