Nurse Rose Flinchum treats patients she works with as if they were members of her family.
This personalized attention in working with diabetic patients and teaching them how to manage their condition led to Flinchum’s selection as Diabetes Educator of the Year for 2019 by the Indiana Coordinating Body of the American Diabetes Association.
Flinchum, a registered nurse at La Porte Hospital, is a certified diabetes educator and is board certified in advanced diabetes management as an adult clinical nurse specialist. She has been a diabetes educator since 1980 and has been with La Porte Hospital since 2007.
“Rose Flinchum is an outstanding nurse and an expert when it comes to diabetes management,” said Anetra Jones, chief nursing officer for La Porte and Starke Hospitals. “She actively stays current in the field of diabetes management and her patients benefit as a result.
Jones said La Porte and Starke Hospitals are fortunate to have a team of diabetes educators and dieticians available to its patients and the community. Hospital officials say Flinchum treating patients as a member of her family is among her basic tenets.
“Rose’s passion for patient education is a great asset to our team,” Jones said.