diabetic nurse

Hi Sara , my DN was just the same , her words were " Only cutting fat will make a difference " But I went ahead because to me, cutting carbs seemed the right way to go . Over the past 5 months , my results have spoken volumes and she has gone very quiet !!

haggis1972 said:

she had a fit and told me not to cut carbs eat plenty

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Was this her exact words?

As this seems to becoming such a common statement, that the DSN has said, but I haven't actually heard uttered in my 21+ years experience of being diabetic..

Eating plenty of carbs, has only been said to me once, during this time, and it was the pharmist who mentioned this, during my medication review at the chemist! Now I might enquire and listien to information she provided concerning drug interaction, but I wouldn't actually seek or particularly listien to dietary information for my diabetes from her!

Hi Sara.
If your diet that you worked out is working for you then just ignore the 'hissy fit' Nurse and tell her it is your body, your Diabetes and you will do what is best for you. Make sure that you are getting all the Vitamins that you need and if your Doc is supportive then stick with him/her.

Your Nurse is just spouting the NHS/DUK line regarding diet. Plenty of carbs. Now for many of us that advice is seriously flawed, it certainly was for me. It nearly killed me and did my Diabetes no good at all making me take more and more medication and making me more ill with other complications.

I have reduced carbs but also use low GI/GL diet. That seems to work for me. I did seriously low carb for a while but it didn't suit me as I had other issues with that type of diet. Even when I was doing that my Endo and DSN were both supportive. I think it all boils down to knowledge about Diabetes and our metabolism. Some HCP's are good and enlightened, others like your Nurse seem stuck in the dark ages.

My advice.......stick with the Doc and do what is best for you. If you have had the advice we usually give out to newly diagnosed type 2's that explains why reducing carbs is good.......maybe the Nurse thought you meant an Atkin's Diet which even I wouldn't recommend. Do your own thing like most of us here.

That method got me 5 stone lighter and Bg levels before my Cancer treatment all 98% on target. They went haywire but are now beginning to get back on track.

Ken

Hi ya, I think some nurses tend to spout from the text books they have read and some of them don't roll with the times! my experience is that no DN has every told me to low carb or high carb, their advice has always been eat a healthy, balanced diet which is common sense really :lol: if low carb works for you, then go for it. If not, then try something new Now, it has occured to me that I've never experienced the hissy fit style of nursing because I've maintained relatively good control over my BG levels and I've never been overweight (apart from when pregnant and that doesn't count :wink: ) so maybe that's why? the media has a lot to answer for as they write articles which say low carb = high fat which doesn't have to be the case!

Bottom line, stick with what works for you. Let your BG levels do the talking 8)

I must say my DN is great but she has never really concentrated any discussion on any specific diet.

However when I visited the doctor on another matter she asked how I was getting on with my diabetic control to which I said "not too bad thanks" - but she then proceeded to tell me I should be following a low carb diet, the benefits etc and referred me to an American organisations website for more info.

The info she gave me I was already doing but I found that cutting portions has helped greatly (except when the husband nags about "are you sure that's enough") and I do try to low carb as much as poss (but I do struggle as I love anything potato!)as it does work for me but it's not easy

So there are doctors out there who don't spout the "received wisdom" of the NHS and are actively promoting a low carb lifestyle.

My GP and DN spout the NHS ‘plenty of starchy carbs’ line but the hospital folk are really up to date and supportive of cutting down on the carbs. The results do speak for themselves anyway – and I have chosen to have my diabetes care at the hospital.

When I was first diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes, the DN also told me to 'eat plenty of starchy foods' which I took as gospel as the Medical profession should know what they are doing - right? However, my diabetes just got worse.

So I read a book called The Diabetes Revolution by Dr Charles Clark, which is all about the low carb approach for control of Diabetes and thought 'What have I got to lose?'. The starchy foods approach clearly wasn't working. It worked really well and my levels fell to mostly normal levels. My last HBA1C levels were 5.9 at the last count.

When I had to go for a follow-up appointment with DN, I told her I was low carb-ing and it was working a treat, and asked her why she had told me to do something that was clearly the opposite of what I should be doing. She told me that she had to tell me that as that is what she had been taught and told to say by the NHS. It looks thought from some of the other comments that there are some parts of the NHS who are coming round to the idea of low carb diet for control of diabetes.

When I fall off the low carb/low sugar wagon (I too find it hard to stick to sometimes) my symptoms come back very strongly. Then it takes about a week to feel the good effects of the low carb diet and for the diabetes symptoms to all disappear. It proves to me all over again how effective it is for me anyway.

can u help me
i stop my in injetin i do not like it i see my doc`s they just said keep in injeting now i stop i ask doc`s for pump thay said NO NO
NOW I STOP INJETING MY SELF NOW I DO NOT GIVE S..T THERE NO ONR HELP

bond said:

can u help me
i stop my in injetin i do not like it i see my doc`s they just said keep in injeting now i stop i ask doc`s for pump thay said NO NO
NOW I STOP INJETING MY SELF NOW I DO NOT GIVE S..T THERE NO ONR HELP

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Why is injecting yourself a problem ? You are a Type 2 so there are alternative Med's which you could possibly take, have you discussed this with your GP if you feel so strongly about injecting. The GP should take this into consideration.

Ken

Many members of the medical professions, follow the textbooks to the letter and simply don't think about what theya are saying. And, sadly, some nurses are pretty dumb. They want to help, but only know how to repeat their book learning. Some of the stuff they learn is barely at "A" level standard.
Hana

Hana,
I take exception to the comment that some nurses are pretty dumb! :shock: ALL nurses now are trained to university degree standard.

A General trained nurse has to learn a wide variety of subjects and yes, maybe diabetes is not their specialist subject but they all go on courses if they have to deal with diabetes.

The changes have to come from the top, from the research based material before teaching changes. Blame the system, not the nurses, they are stressed and hard pressed enough as it is.

hanadr said:

Many members of the medical professions, follow the textbooks to the letter and simply don't think about what theya are saying. And, sadly, some nurses are pretty dumb. They want to help, but only know how to repeat their book learning. Some of the stuff they learn is barely at "A" level standard.
Hana

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I can't believe you said that Hana. Whatever their qualifications, they do the best they can for all patients.
I am with Sue on this one.

Hi Hana,

My sister-in-law is a theatre nurse in my local hospital, and if my memory serves me right, I recall her studying at college and training in-house at the infirmary for 3-4 years before becoming qualified. As it happens, training is often on-going and she regularly attends courses etc, to suggest that some are 'pretty dumb' is truly disrespectful to the profession.

I think that you should retract that remark Hana!

Nigel

I'm with Hanna on this.

Going through a training course means that the information has been made available and it has been retained for long enough to pass examinations.
This does not mean that the information is imparted clearly and wisely afterwards, or that problems are addressed with a clear and analytical mind.

Doctors are far more highly trained than nurses and I think we all have come across doctors who are thoughtful, proactive, caring and well informed. I suspect we have also come across doctors who are the opposite.

In any profession there are those who perform well and those who just get by.
There are plenty of posts about diabetic nurses who do not seem to listen to the patient or do not think for themselves. I think this qualifies as 'dumb'.
To classify some nurses as 'dumb' does not classify all as 'dumb'.
There are also posts about outstanding diabetic nurses. This does not mean that all diabetic nurses are outstanding.

It is important to be aware that those in the medical professions are just as human as the rest of us and have all the same strengths and the same faults. Always be aware that the advice you receive is a personal view of received information (possibly out of date) and that you should always think for yourself and not follow blindly.

Given all the above, when you realise that you may be more intelligent than your diabetic nurse it does not mean your nurse is 'dumb' (unless of course your knuckles have a tendency to trail in the dust ;-) )

Cheers

LGC

Dumb. Lacking the power of human speech or an offensive term for stupid.

Nurses do their training, a long hard slog, with little remuneration even though they are expected to perform on wards during their training. They are supposed to be there in their student days as observers but are used as an extra pair of hands because there is usually a shortage of skilled nurses.

When the training is finished then the real learning begins. It is like passing a driving test. Once you have passed then you learn how to drive. You become as good a nurse as your ongoing training, appraisals and skills allow. Practical skills are part of the assessment. Blame the educators rather than the nurses but also ask yourself who appraises the educators.
Because you consider yourself better educated than nurses does not mean that your opinions are the right ones and I feel sad that it seems acceptable to call nurses dumb. A lot depends on your attitude when you encounter your diabetes nurse and I have noticed that some people accept what their nurse says at the time and then come onto the forum and bleat about how ridiculous was the advice. Why not address the problem at the time it occurs in a reasonable and polite way. Calling people names because they do not conform to your way of thinking is hardly the way forward. Some of the nurses that some of us see do not have any qualifications as a diabetes specialist but are standing in because the job is still being advertised or because the practice does not have enough funding to employ one at this time. These nurses are doing the best they can.
Until those at the top accept that some of the methods for managing diabetes are outdated then please do not blame the nurses. There are repercussions for nurses who decide that they know best and go against the rest of their team. They have to argue the point and take it further in the vain hope that things will change, an impossible task that gets them labelled.
Until the establishment wakes up there will not be a way forward. There is no right way to manage diabetes, only the way that works for you and that is what we should all be aiming for. We need to be aware that it is all trial and error and being offensive to other people does nothing to endear the diabetes professionals to us. Be assured that some of them read this forum.
We all know of excellent, good, bad and indifferent people in all professions. That is our opinion and someone else may see things totally differently.

I saw a diabetic "specialist" nurse yesterday. She suggested I eat porridge for breakfast, a wholemeal sandwichfor lunch, and mashed potatoe with my evening meal. I had to explain that I'd be asleep after eating the porridge, knackered after eating the sandwich, and probably asleep AGAIN after eating the mashed potatoe.

She just shrugged.

She was actually one of the better ones I've seen. She did listen when I told her about the types of food I've had success with in keeping my BG down, but sometimes she just shrugged...

It's hard to convince them that what they tell people time after time after time, is wrong. You know, if you say something enough, you'll end up believing it.

I didn't say ALL nurses are dumb, just some. I have a niece who is brilliant. she was the best sudent in her year at school and went on to train at University as a nurse. She's now with the army at Kandahar.
However Not all nurses were trained recently and not all in this country. I have met some who were positively thick. I have also met thick teachers and some less than brilliant doctors.
Hana

hanadr said:

I didn't say ALL nurses are dumb, just some. I have a niece who is brilliant. she was the best sudent in her year at school and went on to train at University as a nurse. She's now with the army at Kandahar.
However Not all nurses were trained recently and not all in this country. I have met some who were positively thick. I have also met thick teachers and some less than brilliant doctors.
Hana

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you seem to have met a lot of 'thick' and 'dumb' people Hana. Which begs the question, what do they all have in common?