Brittany Schultz
January 2023
Brittany
Schultz
,
BSN, RN, CDCES
Diabetes Care and Education
Logan Health Medical Center
Kalispell
,
MT
United States
As an outpatient nurse educator, Brittany works specifically with patients who have diabetes, guiding them to successfully manage their diabetes so that they can live their best lives.
This is to recognize Brittany Schultz! Here are what her coworkers are saying about her.
This is perhaps a more unusual nomination because Brittany does not work in-patient, however, she does exhibit exceptional patient care skills. As an outpatient nurse educator, Brittany works specifically with patients who have diabetes, guiding them to successfully manage their diabetes so that they can live their best lives.
For example, recently a patient came in totally frustrated with his diabetes management. He has had type 1 diabetes since childhood and has never been able to achieve an A1C of less than 10%. He was resistant to change and insisted on following the instructions of his former endocrinologist, even though that was many years ago and his insulin needs had changed since then. Out of desperation, our Endo presented Brittany with this difficult patient and ordered an insulin pump for him. Brittany spent many hours with this patient, starting with the basics of meal planning, insulin use, and lifestyle, and then gave him comprehensive pump education. The patient returned weekly for several visits with Brittany to fine-tune his insulin administration while gently being led in the direction of making better food choices, exercising, and being more willing to make his health a priority. To both of their delights, this patient's most recent A1C has dropped to 8.5% and should continue to drop now that he has embraced what positive changes can do for his blood sugars. He admits to feeling so much better and has a better chance of preventing long-term complications of hyperglycemia.
Another example is a gestational diabetes patient who was reluctant to check her blood sugars even though she understood that poor diabetes management might affect the outcome of her pregnancy. Brittany placed a trial continuous glucose monitor (cgm) on her which worked very well and the patient was able to see immediately how her food choices were affecting her blood sugars and how she could make better choices. But the really exceptional care was given behind the scenes. The patient's provider wanted her to have her own cgm for at least the duration of her pregnancy. Brittany went above and beyond spending an inordinate amount of her crazy busy day calling the patient's insurance, filling in the prescription, attaching the provider notes, faxing it, and making sure that her insurance had all the documentation necessary for the cgm approval. When the cgm arrived Brittany educated the patient again on its use and followed her until she delivered a healthy baby boy.
Examples like these are the norm for Brittany. She works tirelessly to assure that each of her patients is given the best education tailored to their specific needs. She genuinely cares and is passionate about her role as a diabetes nurse educator. I believe she definitely deserves recognition for her work in Diabetes Education.
This is perhaps a more unusual nomination because Brittany does not work in-patient, however, she does exhibit exceptional patient care skills. As an outpatient nurse educator, Brittany works specifically with patients who have diabetes, guiding them to successfully manage their diabetes so that they can live their best lives.
For example, recently a patient came in totally frustrated with his diabetes management. He has had type 1 diabetes since childhood and has never been able to achieve an A1C of less than 10%. He was resistant to change and insisted on following the instructions of his former endocrinologist, even though that was many years ago and his insulin needs had changed since then. Out of desperation, our Endo presented Brittany with this difficult patient and ordered an insulin pump for him. Brittany spent many hours with this patient, starting with the basics of meal planning, insulin use, and lifestyle, and then gave him comprehensive pump education. The patient returned weekly for several visits with Brittany to fine-tune his insulin administration while gently being led in the direction of making better food choices, exercising, and being more willing to make his health a priority. To both of their delights, this patient's most recent A1C has dropped to 8.5% and should continue to drop now that he has embraced what positive changes can do for his blood sugars. He admits to feeling so much better and has a better chance of preventing long-term complications of hyperglycemia.
Another example is a gestational diabetes patient who was reluctant to check her blood sugars even though she understood that poor diabetes management might affect the outcome of her pregnancy. Brittany placed a trial continuous glucose monitor (cgm) on her which worked very well and the patient was able to see immediately how her food choices were affecting her blood sugars and how she could make better choices. But the really exceptional care was given behind the scenes. The patient's provider wanted her to have her own cgm for at least the duration of her pregnancy. Brittany went above and beyond spending an inordinate amount of her crazy busy day calling the patient's insurance, filling in the prescription, attaching the provider notes, faxing it, and making sure that her insurance had all the documentation necessary for the cgm approval. When the cgm arrived Brittany educated the patient again on its use and followed her until she delivered a healthy baby boy.
Examples like these are the norm for Brittany. She works tirelessly to assure that each of her patients is given the best education tailored to their specific needs. She genuinely cares and is passionate about her role as a diabetes nurse educator. I believe she definitely deserves recognition for her work in Diabetes Education.