The daily life of Aude, Advanced Practice Nurse in Diabetes
On the occasion of World Nurses Day 2023, discover the portrait of Aude Bourgery Djongang, Advanced Practice Nurse in the Diabetology – Metabolism Department at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital.
With the support of IHU ICAN, it is developing a paramedical and medical project to improve self-care for diabetic patients returning home. Find out more below!
The job of Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) in diabetology
Aude’s job is to provide comprehensive care for diabetic patients, who are hospitalized in other departments of the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital group thanks to the Unité Mobile de Diabétologie.
- On arrival at the hospital: patient interview, clinical examination, assessment and adjustment of diabetes treatments,
- During hospitalization: shared educational assessment, implementation of the therapeutic education needed for a safe return home, answering questions from patients and their caregivers,
- On leaving hospital :organizing the diabetes care pathway (day or weekday hospital), prescribing additional tests to monitor diabetes, remote monitoring to adjust diabetes treatment, maintaining the link with the patient between the time of discharge and the next diabetes appointment, answering questions from the patient and caregivers.
As an Advanced Practice Nurse in Diabetes, it acts as a link between outpatient medicine and the hospital : general practitioner, private nurses, diabetologist, pharmacist, chiropodist… In relation with the CPTS Paris 13 (Communauté Professionnelle Territoriale de Santé), it can guiding patients with unbalanced diabetes and need to be followed up in consultation or hospitalized.
At the same time, Aude is also developing a paramedical research activity, taking part in local and national projects. She is currently working on a project linked to therapeutic patient education (TPE).
A project to improve self-care for diabetic patients returning home
“How did the idea for this project come about? It’s by listening to patients that we find possible solutions to their needs. When I explained how to perform self-measurement of blood sugar or insulin injections, many asked to film my demonstrations so they could watch them again and reproduce the correct gesture. So I came up with the idea of setting up a program of educational videos so that patients could develop self-care skills and those around them could also learn.”
Therapeutic patient education (TPE) carried out in a mobile diabetes unit needs to be extended to the home, in view of increasingly short hospital stays and outpatient care.
Supported by the SFD Ypsomed 2023 grant, this innovative digital learning project complements existing face-to-face therapeutic education.
- Via a QR code accessible on prescriptions, flyers and posters in the department, patients can follow a simple, fun digital learning program consisting of 6 educational videos.
- At the end of each video, an interactive game will measure the improvement in knowledge and reinforce the educational messages.
“We want to offer patients a useful tool that will take into account their level of digital literacy, to ensure it’s easy to use for everyone. To date, the videos are almost complete. We’re now moving on to the phase of creating the interactive tool, with the aim of having it operational by the end of 2023 for patients, their carers, but also by carers wishing to complete their training.”
Support the development of this project
To take things a step further, Aude and the medical team want to combine the use of educational video and augmented reality to put the patient in a real-life situation. This technology will reinforce the patient’s commitment to the use of the “offloading shoe”, a medical device prescribed for the care of diabetic foot wounds.
- This project is carried out in the Diabetology – Metabolism Department of Pr. Agnès HARTEMANN, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, Institut IE3M
- Aude DJONGANG BOURGERY, Advance Practice Nurse
- Dr Georges HA VAN, Diabetologist
This project needs support to finance its development: contact Francine Trocmé (Director of Patronage and Communications at IHU ICAN) for more information.
