Seattle U Guest Lecturer: Diabetes Nursing & Nutrition

I met Yuting Lin at the University of Washington Nurse Educator conference in June of this year. After my presentation that day, she approached me with an invitation to collaborate on curriculum at Seattle University (SU) for her Bachelor of Science in Nursing students. She's a professor at SU and teaches their first year nursing students (college sophomores) and senior practica. She's wanted to include dietetics and nutrition into their curriculum, so invited me to join and be a guest lecturer for this quarter. I'm thrilled that SU had added focus on health eating and an introduction into Diabetes Specialists to expand the exposure nursing students get to this field. When reflecting on my undergraduate studies, I do not recall receiving any emphasis on nutrition. It always felt like health eating was a footnote at the end of assigned reading chapters, but never emphasized in lectures. Cheers to the new curriculum!

So, this morning I had a special spring in my step, I got to walk on the Seattle University campus bright and early for their 8am class. It felt exhilarating being back in person for an undergraduate guest lecture. With Covid-19 restrictions, I've done a lot of virtual teaching, but today I got to be face-to-face with 45 undergrads, the faces of the next generation of nurses.

Today, my lecture was on Diabetes Nurse Specialists, talking about my work at Kaiser Permanente as a Chronic Disease Management Diabetes Nurse, and then specifically talked about basics on nutrition counseling and patient assessments/ interviews. The students were engaged and had many astute questions. We got into good topics like disordered eating, myths for diabetes nutrition, patient learning styles, and involving family members. One student mentioned, unprompted, that he was passionate about public health and asked about resources and clinics. We (the royal we for ambulatory care nurses) might get another handful of driven public health nurses from the SU graduating class of 2026!

I'll be back later this Fall Quarter to help with their simulation and final. Yuting is planning for the students to do a patient interview with trained actors, performing thorough nutrition assessments and giving appropriate nutritional recommendations to patients for shared-decision making and patient-owned goals. I'm impressed with the strategic, and thorough education Yuting and her colleagues are providing. More to come as the quarter unfolds.