Diabetic Nurses - Discuss

[bulkbiker]

Putting on my moderator hat...

To demonise nurses, HCPs, or indeed anyone in a stereotypical way is against the ethos of the forum. It is belittling of a whole group of people. Posts doing so will be edited, deleted, and other sanctions applied to conform with the standards we all signed up to.

Sure, many of us have had bad experiences, but there there are many good examples of HCPs' care.

I'm sorry but I don't think a bit of healthy criticism is belittling anyone.
We have a vast amount of anecdotal data from the forum that NHS treatment for T2 can be almost described as malpractise. If we are going to censor people for saying that the NHS may not be great at everything then I would feel extremely uncomfortable staying as a forum member.
I and my family have had a load of absolutely rubbish treatment from the NHS and I have no intention of not speaking out about it and nor should anyone else be stopped from doing so.

 

[Pipp]

To be absolutely clear @bulkbiker. Nobody is being prevented from reporting their experience with HCPs, whether that be positive or negative. What is going against forum ethos is the extrapolation of anecdotal evidence, seen in some posts, to applying a stereotyping of all HCPs as bad/ useless or whatever other negative descriptions have been used. That is definitely belittling.

 

[Member496333]

I'm sorry but I don't think a bit of healthy criticism is belittling anyone.
We have a vast amount of anecdotal data from the forum that NHS treatment for T2 can be almost described as malpractise. If we are going to censor people for saying that the NHS may not be great at everything then I would feel extremely uncomfortable staying as a forum member.
I and my family have had a load of absolutely rubbish treatment from the NHS and I have no intention of not speaking out about it and nor should anyone else be stopped from doing so.

I’m in agreement. I just had to delete one of my own posts because its content had been materially altered by a moderator to mean something completely different to what I had intended. I appreciate that rules are rules but that is just not cricket. I would have preferred it had been deleted by the moderator. Hmmm.

Anyway it’s clear that this discussion is ruffling a few feathers so it’s best left there.

 

[bulkbiker]

To be absolutely clear @bulkbiker. Nobody is being prevented from reporting their experience with HCPs, whether that be positive or negative. What is going against forum ethos is the extrapolation of anecdotal evidence, seen in some posts, to applying a stereotyping of all HCPs as bad/ useless or whatever other negative descriptions have been used. That is definitely belittling.

Thank you for the clarification. I think our definitions of belittling may differ somewhat.

 

[Pipp]

• Perhaps revisiting the forum ethos and rules would further clarify for everyone.
• https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/community-ethos-forum-rules.50278/ In this instance C12 is particularly relevant.
• 'Setting up an ‘us against them’ mentality. This is not acceptable and any such behaviour could be considered worth of a suspension or ban.
• Discrimination, whether racial, religious, homophobic or any other considered unlawful or not in the spirit or ethos of this Forum.'

 

[Flora123]

Forgot to mention that it was my doctor who called me on the day of diagnosis that low carb high fat diet will reverse the condition , i did well the first year then it all went wrong and now i am strict LCHF and waiting for my results should be back tomorrow .

What went wrong if you don’t mind me asking? Less than a year for me and interested from your experience

 

[Daibell]

Anyway at least the ship is slowly being turned around. In my view it will take many more years and probably a generation change to fully flush out the old guard, but as the new blood rises in the ranks we should see things massively improving, with many more lives being saved and generally many more instances of T2DM being prevented as public knowledge improves.

History will tell the story of this generation’s idea of diabetes causation & treatment, and laugh at us. In the meantime here’s hoping that everyone gets the treatment and advice they deserve, not just the lucky minority.

I must admit during the 15 years since my diagnosis and much of that time on this forum I have seen a gradual improvement in diabetes knowledge and treatment by the NHS. I have been amazed how ignorant many involved with diabetes treatment were 15 years ago and often with no excuse. I currently have an excellent DN and the one before was also super. Both my diabetes GPs have shown ignorance of the wider aspects of the subject but in other respects their treatment of my other health conditions have been very good. The treatment of diabetes has too often relied on myths, dated knowledge and guesswork but I do see great improvement. There is still a way to go with nurse and GP training so you can't always blame those on the front line if they are given incorrect information by the trainers.

 

[PatsyB]

I always thought it was your choice what meter you used how ever not so according to my Diabetic Nurse we have to use what they give us... she is one of the best nurses though one i can talk to i lost my meter or left it some where over Christmas and she gave me another meter same one but black the other was white I do find my overall blood test was less when not on insulin as I seem to be eating to keep the levels up but not an option to come off the insulin am told...as for carbs they were never mentioned to me as giving them up but, I was told must eat 4 slices of brown bread per day 2 small potatoes and cerial which i do not have as that spikes the sugar level very high....that was 8 years ago when diabetes started on me, how I hate having it but have to put up with it ...so as Nurses go she is a gem

 

[Diawara]

I always thought it was your choice what meter you used how ever not so according to my Diabetic Nurse we have to use what they give us... she is one of the best nurses though one i can talk to i lost my meter or left it some where over Christmas and she gave me another meter same one but black the other was white I do find my overall blood test was less when not on insulin as I seem to be eating to keep the levels up but not an option to come off the insulin am told...as for carbs they were never mentioned to me as giving them up but, I was told must eat 4 slices of brown bread per day 2 small potatoes and cerial which i do not have as that spikes the sugar level very high....that was 8 years ago when diabetes started on me, how I hate having it but have to put up with it ...so as Nurses go she is a gem

@PatsyB what terrible diet advise in my humble opinion .. ive been at this game now for nearly a year annd following my own instincts and this site i can honestly say ... i have eaten four slices of bread in all that time (botth in bacon sandwiches given in gratituide by a customer which i couldnt refuse because i was ashamed to say i had just been diagnosed type two!) and one macdonalds burger bun in faro.. algarve when all resteraunts were shut.....

 

[Listlad]

@PatsyB what terrible diet advise in my humble opinion .. ive been at this game now for nearly a year annd following my own instincts and this site i can honestly say ... i have eaten four slices of bread in all that time (botth in bacon sandwiches given in gratituide by a customer which i couldnt refuse because i was ashamed to say i had just been diagnosed type two!) and one macdonalds burger bun in faro.. algarve when all resteraunts were shut.....

Faro. One of the nicest places I have been to in the algarve. The beaches there are so nice.

 

[Diawara]

Faro. One of the nicest places I have been to in the algarve. The beaches there are so nice.

shhhhh dont tell everyone! cant believe why anyone would go to albuifera though !

 

[sarahdennis87]

I’m a bit late in the conversation but just to add my view on DSNs.

My DSN is absolutely amazing. She’s younger than me but she’s such a positive person, she gives advice that helps and she even referred me to a dietician to help with a new diagnosis of Pancreatic Insufficiency (pancreas not producing enzymes) to help me. She’s just recently got me funding for the Dexcom (waiting on delivery). She’s amazing. An email to her and she replies by the end of the day.

My last DSN was exactly the same but she retired last year. I’m very lucky!

 

[Patrick66]

My last meeting with mine was last week.

No comment on my diet although she said I’d done incredibly well to lose so much weight and to keep up the good work.
Talked about fasting, how I was feeling etc and she was pretty upbeat and encouraging.

That’s not always been the case. Another one I’ve seen had been quite strident and vocal and given dire warnings with no alternatives to try but perhaps it’s been a long day and she’s tired of checking feet and weighing people.

So I’ve seen both sides.

 

[Goonergal]

Coming late to this thread. I’ve had a very mixed experience. Given very little advice on diagnosis and it was suggested I’d need long-term medication. Dealt almost exclusively with GP at first but saw nurse for annual review in the summer at which point things changed for the better. She was very interested in my journey and on discussion it was revealed that one of her colleagues is a big Jason Fung fan. Subsequently I have handed them various documents produced for our meet-up last year and have been invited- in a general way, no specifics yet - to talk to other patients about managing their diabetes.

 

[Crocodile]

I've only seen mine once along with the dietician when first diagnosed in 2015. They were both nice enough but I just didn't feel comfortable with the food program on offer. I found this place and have modified my diet accordingly and managing well. I see my GP every quarter and he is very supportive and understands what I'm up to and why. Officially he can't endorse it but he's happy that I'm one of his better managed patients.

Honestly, they should scrap the perfunctory visit to the DN and just pass a slip of paper to the patient with the URL of this place on it.

 

[HSSS]

Ahh when I requested my due

I’ve seen my dn once at diagnosis 7 moths ago. She was great supported low carb, gave me a meter and a repeat for cassettes and foot cream. The GP I saw for another issue at the same time mention the diabetes and told me to eat in moderation and not to test as my fingers would get sore.

I understand the DN has been off on long term sick since. I’ve had two more blood tests since then, requested by me. No idea who signed off on them. No contact after either of them by the surgery. I have online access to results so know what’s happening but they’ve done nothing. No ones told me what to do next or when, ever. I’m going purely on what I see on here and asking the surgery for 3 monthly tests as a result. I had to chase the surgery for retinopathy which they had no idea about. I got it in the end. When I get to my 1 yr anniversary I’ll book an appointment. I hope the dn is back by then as she seems to be the only one with any idea.

Ahh when trying to book my due test last week I’ve now been told by a random gp that I’m “normal” so I don’t need a test other than annual not even due of the diagnosis anniversary as they do it by birth month randomly. I’m still prediabetic range so that’s not even true. I’m trying to get hold of the dn to get this sorted but can’t even reach her on the phone as the surgery now has an answering service for a group of practices and the only people I can speak to is them. They refused to leave her a message about it as she doesn’t do phone appointments and won’t go against the gp by asking her. They wouldn’t even tell me how to reach her for general advice outside of my annual review. I’m fuming and feel a complaint about that bit at least coming on. They are truly useless as a practice in every respect except for the fact they are oddly giving me testing supplies on prescription so I’m stuck with them as I know I won’t get them anywhere else.