Diabetes Educators Join Joslin Center

The Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at Shore Health System welcomes four certified diabetes educators to the center, which is located at The Memorial Hospital at Easton.

Bonnie Stone, RD, CDE, Cynthia Tucker, BSN, RN, CDE, CPT, Barbara Von Kleeck, BSN, RN, CDE, and Theresa Plog, PharmD, CDE, work with the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate endocrinologists to provide comprehensive diabetes care for individuals age 18 and older for type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Certified diabetes educators consult with people who have diabetes or pre-diabetes to offer nutrition assessment and education, including advice on exercise, stress reduction and lifestyle modifications. Nancy Barger, RN, CDE, manager of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at Shore Health System, says, “Education is our primary focus. Even before someone receives a diabetes diagnosis, we are here to discuss pre-diabetic conditions and to offer advice on how to prevent the early symptoms from developing into a more serious medical condition.”

Bonnie A. Stone, RD, CDE, who lives in Seaford, Delaware, earned a bachelor of science in nutrition and diabetes from the University of Nevada, Reno. A certified diabetes educator for ten years, Stone has 28 years of experience as a nutrition and food services consultant, a sales staff and healthcare provider training specialist, and a diabetes educator for hospital systems and medical supply firms around the country. Stone is a member of the American Diabetes Association, and a member of the American, Delaware and Maryland Associations of Diabetes Educators.

Cynthia Tucker, BSN, RN, CDE, CPT, who lives in Delmar, Maryland, earned a bachelor of science in nursing from Salisbury State University and has been a certified diabetes educator since 2000. She is also a certified insulin pump trainer. Her nursing career has included community health nursing for the Wicomico County Health Department and home health nursing. She was an outreach nurse for Home Health Corporation of American and diabetes education coordinator for Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, where she helped develop a successful hospital-based outpatient diabetes program. In addition to her active memberships in the American, Maryland, Garden State and Pennsylvania Associations of Diabetes Educators, Tucker is widely published on the topic of diabetes.

Barbara von Kleeck, BSN, RN, CDE, who lives in Easton, earned a bachelor of science in nursing from Russell Sage College in Troy, New York and has been a certified diabetes educator since 1998. For 27 years she was a nurse and certified diabetes educator for Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey. She also provided nursing support for a private endocrinology practice in New Jersey. Von Kleeck is a member of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

Theresa Plog, PharmD, CDE, who lives in St. Michaels, earned a bachelor of science and a doctor of pharmacy from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. Before joining Shore Health System in 2001, she was a retail pharmacist and a clinical pharmacist for Bay Health’s Kent General Hospital in Dover, Delaware. In addition to her role as a diabetes educator for the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate, Plog is a pharmacist in the Shore Health System Antithrombosis Clinic, where she provides medication counseling and education. A certified smoking cessation specialist since 2001, she became a certified diabetes educator in 2007. Plog is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, a guest lecturer for the Wilmington College Certified Nurse Practitioner Program, and a regular presenter at professional and community health forums.

For more information about the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at Shore Health System, call 410-822-1000 or 410-228-5511, ext. 5757.