Diabetes Educator
Career Area: Health Care including Nursing
Occupation Group: Health Education and Counseling
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical Diabetes Educator earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $57,660
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $62,249
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Works with patients and families to understand and manage diabetes. Helps patients to learn how diabetes affects their bodies and teaches them how to monitor blood sugar levels, administer medications and manage diet and activity. May be licensed as a nurse, therapist, nutritionist or other medical professional. Works in hospitals and other clinical settings.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 59 | +10.2% |
| Nationwide | 2266 | +10.3% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every Diabetes Educator is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
- Computer Literacy: The ability to use computers and related technology efficiently for work tasks.
- Planning: Working experience with the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve desired goals.
- Microsoft Excel: Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Diabetes Diagnosis / Treatment:
- Patient/Family Education and Instruction: Working knowledge of Patient/Family Education and Instruction, which is the process by which health professionals and others impart information to patients and their caregivers that will alter their health behaviors or improve their health status.
- Patient Care: The services rendered by members of the health profession and non-professionals under their supervision for the benefit of the patient.
- Teaching: Working experience of teaching, which is defined as imparting knowledge to an individual or class, or instruct someone as to how to do something.
- Insulin: Insulin is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets, and it is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Diabetes Educator that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Patient Follow-up: to maintain contact with (a patient) at one or more designated intervals following diagnosis or treatment especially to examine again or monitor the progress of therapy
- Primary Care: Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a health care provider.
- Nutrition: Nutrition is the science that interprets the interaction of nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism.
- Endocrinology: Endocrinology is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones.
- Gestational Diabetes: Gestational diabetes is a condition in which a woman without diabetes develops high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills:
- Respiratory Therapy: Exercises and treatments that help patients recover lung function
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 54% |
| 3 to 5 years | 45% |
| 6 to 8 years | 1% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Diabetes Educator
- Certified Diabetes Educator
- Health Educator
- Clinical Territory Manager/Educator, Diabetes
- Registered Nurse Certified Diabetes Educator
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