I am an RN, but foremost, I have had type 1 diabetes for 41 years.and my goal is to be a diabetes educator, but it is possible as a Catch 22 since you need a 1,000 hours of teaching in order to take the test and in my area, there are never any job openings. I aid people with answers as asked and assist the staff at the hospital where I work as a float nurse with information. I am a member of the ADA, and AADE. Any words of advice as to where to go to look for jobs as a diabetes educator?

“Breaking” into the field of diabetes education can be very challenging for the reasons you mentioned. Taking the Certified Diabetes Educator exam requires (in addition to an accepted degree): current employment as a diabetes educator (working at least four hours per week) and 1000 hours accumulated in the past five years. Volunteer work, memberships, and routine nursing care do not count. So how can you move into the profession?

Continue your professional memberships — they are a great way to network and hear about new job openings.
Volunteer on the local and national level of the organizations — again another way to get your name out. The volunteerism won’t count toward the exam, but the connections are invaluable.
Look for related jobs in patient education departments (hospitals and health departments), cardiac rehabilitation departments.
Look for other types of jobs — part-time teaching in a doctor’s office, camp nurse at a diabetes camp.

Best of luck. It sounds like you have a lot to offer the profession.

BS