The Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Cardiometabolism was established on February 1, 2020. It is organized in a way to provide superior care to endocrinological patients with diabetes, thyroid, pituitary, adrenal glands and other associated cardiometabolic diseases.
On June 15, 2020, we launched the first diabetology day hospital, which aims at group education of patients about the nature and self-control of diabetes and about possible complications. The intention is to train patients to independently control the disease and coexist with it through education. In this new normal COVID era, our education is conducted exclusively individually, up to 15 minutes with the use of protective equipment and distance. If reeducation is required, the patient is ordered for re-examination.
Patients who are hospitalized are also included in our project Early Detection of Diabetes to identify these patients at an early stage of the disease, which would prevent possible complications of the disease and consequently reduce treatment costs. The first in a series is the installation of the first continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and Holter ECG at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Department on May 28, 2020, which would detect a possible correlation of glucovariability and changes in heart rhythm in patients with diabetes.
At Thalassotherapy Opatija we have the privilege to approach each patient individually in collaboration with our multidisciplinary team consisting of a Master of Nursing, nutritionist, psychologist, neurologist, cardiologist, dermatologist, physiatrists, and physiotherapists. Patients will receive a structured insight into the condition of the disease, potential complications, planned treatment and recommended physical activity, all with the aim of ensuring the highest possible quality of life for the patient. For outpatients and patients in cardiac rehabilitation, education is facilitated by Passport for Life and Life with Diabetes, designed, and written in Thalassotherapy Opatija.
Nurses are perhaps the most important members of a multidisciplinary team, so continuous education in any segment of the system is crucial for quality care to increase and ensure expertise and competence, so in diabetology it is important to always be up to date with the latest guidelines on nutrition, self-control. CGM devices), insulin pumps, GLP-1 drugs, insulins, etc., so that this knowledge can be transferred to patients through individual and group therapies. (1-3)