Diabetes care extends beyond the hospital

Expanding and building on the care provided to people with diabetes in the local area is the key aim for Clinical Nurse Consultant Diabetes Annette Hart.

12 Jul 2016

12 July 2016

Since St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals opened, Annette has started achieving that aim by supporting people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and in particular, women with gestational diabetes during pregnancy.

”My role as diabetes nurse is diverse, a typical day could include seeing newly diagnosed women with gestational diabetes, inpatients with diabetes or outpatients who have had diabetes longer,” she said.

“I also spend a lot of time providing out of clinic education for ongoing support which includes providing information by email or phone.”

Annette said this telephone support was an easy way for patients to access health information about diabetes management.

“It can be quite confronting for people to be asked to inject themselves with insulin,” she said.

“This is when ongoing support is essential to ensure the person is able to not only administer their own insulin but learn how to adjust the doses themselves.

“The phone support is particularly important for women with gestational diabetes to ensure they are able to make the best choices to reduce the risks to themselves and their baby’s health.”

In addition to Annette’s role, the hospital’s diabetes service includes doctors, a dietitian and a podiatrist.

“As a team we are working from evidence of best practice and are up-skilling our doctors and nurses to ensure our service provision is the best available,” she said.

Annette said her interest in diabetes nursing was a result of her mother’s death from diabetes-related complications and her son’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis a few weeks later.

She said raising public awareness through campaigns such as National Diabetes Week (10 -16 July) was particularly important.

“Most of my advocacy work for people with diabetes is done by raising public awareness of all types of diabetes,” she said.

“I want everyone to know that although type 1 and type 2 diabetes are serious and life-long, a diagnosis should not prevent anyone from achieving their dreams.”