May 15, 2012
Contact: Michele Hutchins
(603) 238-6468

SMH Dietitian Earns Certified Diabetes Educator Designation

PLYMOUTH, N.H.— Jean Baker, registered dietitian at Speare Memorial Hospital, has successfully completed the certification examination for diabetes educators earning the designation of a Certified Diabetes Educator® or CDE®. Achieving certification status demonstrates a distinct and specialized body of knowledge, thereby promoting quality of care for people with diabetes.

“The CDE® adds a level of proficiency and credibility relative to the treatment of, and education of people with diabetes, that is nationally recognized,” explains Baker. “It exemplifies a standard of care.” The National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators administers the examination. Established in 1986, the CDE® credential recognizes and advances the specialty practice of diabetes education.

Baker had to be a registered dietitian and have at least 1,000 patient contact hours. As the diabetes educator at Speare for the past 18 months, and eight years experience in diabetes education overall, Baker says certification was the next logical step. She already holds a master’s in nutrition from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s in nutrition communication from Tufts University.

Through one-on-one education, class instruction, offering a Diabetes Support Group and a monthly newsletter, Baker’s goal is to bridge the gap between a doctor’s diagnosis and a patient’s treatment/self-management of diabetes.

She says, “We know so much more about diabetes today than we did 20 years ago. Medications are advanced and the whole issues of pre-diabetes as a more finite diagnosis than it used to be, has doctors to being proactive in recommending their patients take immediate steps toward prevention. Even just a five to seven percent weight loss can make a measurable difference in a patient’s risk.”

For more information about Speare Memorial Hospital’s diabetes and nutrition education programs, contact Jean Baker, CDE®, at (603) 238-6472.
Speare Memorial Hospital —a 24-hour, acute care, non-profit community hospital and health care provider serving Plymouth and the communities of central New Hampshire—is nationally ranked as a HealthStrongTM: Top 100 Critical Access Hospital. Visit online at www.speare2020.wpengine.com and join us on Facebook.