Diabetes Education in corrections

[SteveDE]

Any of you nurses that have experience in working corrections. What are you thoughts of the need for a diabetes educator to work with inmates on how they can better understand their diabetes and maintain control? How do you see this helping healthcare costs in prisons? Do you believe it might be helpful for diabetes education for officers so they better understand signs/symptoms of diabetes issues to get them corrected before bigger behavioral issues start with issues like DKA?

[SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS]

Not in corrections, but a CDE: when we get pts at our clinic who are establishing care on return to community living after incarceration, often their DM is way out of control (T1 as often as T2) and with bad complications from the get-go, first visit. So sad. African Americans (who are disproportionally incarcerated in our state) also have disproportionally worse kidney outcomes as a complication.

I am happy to see you are concerned about this. Curious to see what our nurse friends in correctional settings have to say about it.

[SteveDE]

Your post dealt with some of my thoughts, that diabetes is not properly controlled in prison, so what is going to be going on for these people after prison, as well as, the cost to them and society as a whole. Hopefully I can start making some changes. Any other thoughts would be greatly appreciated and any experience out there with this?

thanks!