Did anyone else take a back step after the diabetic nurse??

MissMac

Well-Known Member
Messages
234
Whilst not referring to a diabetes nurse, I was recently at a meeting, for diabetics (organisation not important), where the guest speaker was the local specialist Dietician, to talk about diet This was just after a lot of publicity of Dr Michael Mosely's Blood Sugar Diet book.

I think it's safe to say she wasn't a fan. The standout moment of her responses to me came when I asked her what her reaction was to some of the success stories, following the diet, or similar. That was when she told me that "people like that simply don't exist",

All I could say was "You mean people like me?" I nearly burst a blood vessel.

I accept that so many HCP's have so much n their plates they can't invest in the reading and research we do. Adding to that that it's my belief that so many of the nurses we see on a routine basis at our GP surgeries may have done a brief course (some hours or a day, maybe), but they do the Diabetic Clinics because they have been delegated to them by the practise. They probably do the smoking cessation and Asthma clinics on a similar basis.

HCPs are between a rock and a hard place. Their practise Partners will expect them to comply with NICE Guidelines, with little or no autonomy to flex the practise party line or customise their advice too much.

It's tragic, but having worked in the NHS (not in nursing), until I saw the direction it was heading, I know how difficult it can be to push that boulder against the hill, even when there's a personal passion. When I left the NHS, I retained my registration for a few years, then allowed it to lapse as I realised there was no way I was going to practise again in either the public or private sectors.
And never a truer word said there,,,totally off topic what did you do for work when you gave up the reg? That sounds great about the "convention" thingy you went to..Birmingham's only a couple of hours from Somerset/Dorset I think so if there were anymore I might have to ask you to let me know!
I think the thing is, as much as what you say is true about the practice nurse I saw, I feel that even within her boundaries she could have been HECK of a lot less negative....telling me I'm not allowed to walk barefoot anywhere, that if I get even a blister to go and see the surgery.....stupid woman!!! I have no neuropathy and more than enough feeling and sense when it comes to my feet and hate wearing shoes because at a size 10 they invariably cause me to have blisters on blisters. Honestly..not sure if I said it before but when I walked out she had made me feel like, not only 150 years old but also that I should just get myself a nice coffin and get in it. NO amount of training or lack of should produce such a lack of compassion (I do believe it's in our code)candour (likewise...so just tell me you know nothing about the disease) and care (which costs nothing when talking to someone...so all in all she fails in my view. Like I know I said before, I have nothing against the woman herself but her delivery and nursing were substandard and as a fellow nurse...I found that the most depressing thing AFTER my brush with near death if she had been believed!
Now as for world domination...I had my tarots done yesterday and don't ya know...it's in the stars! Stand by! xx
 

KevinPotts

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,606
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Unkind people, failure to take personal responsibility.
So..this message comes straight from having been to see the "diabetic" nurse...what a total and utter farce! She read off a transcribe that was, of course, old school NHS rubbish and whilst she said it was refreshing to meet someone who had done the research etc etc still the appointment went on, making me feel like I was being obstructive and rude. All it contained was the negatives which as a newly diagnosed (maybe just me) I DO NOT need to hear right now. I've been doing really well, she has just turned a positive day into one that is now filled with grrrrrrrrrrrrr. My partner is trying to be positive with "but you're ahead of the game" which I know I am but I cannot stand people who do not know what they are talking about, apparently being charged with my health. She made me feel like I might as well just put myself in a coffin now and be done with it as all I am facing is certain death, amputation and blindness...yes maybe that is the way my head took it but even still.
I, being a nurse, have always been a lover and steadfast supporter of all things NHS but this....this was just a total waste of my day and I am SO angry. As much as I want the blood tests to see how I am getting on, the rest can go to hell, I don't want to engage with them.
Sorry it's a bit ranty and negative I am just SO angry and upset and things have been so good xx

I know it's usual, but both my nurse and doc have been 100% brilliant from day 1.... One happy chap:)
 

donnellysdogs

Master
Messages
13,233
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Dislikes
People that can't listen to other people's opinions.
People that can't say sorry.
I've had a variety! Some good, some bad.
I wmpathise totally with you because recently I have had the same with a breast cancer lead nurse.. I phoned just asking some asvice about my high levels and the Letrozole connection. She was rude over the phone telling me point blank there was no connection, no cholestrlerol side effects and I should see GP. I phoned Macmillan who told me raised cholesterol levels were the most common side effect for Letrozole. Macmillan told me to complain to PALS. I did... Shouldn't have to do this.. How many other ladies is she telling lies to? If it was just me-why? If its bad knowledge on her part-well thats negligence....


Total empathy with you... Pure frustration when we desperateky want to help ourselves and get total put downs.. It is scarey.

However, support from here is amazing for all of us... Please think good of yourself and rely upon your gut feelings but don't let other persons knock you down...

Thinking of youxx
 

eddie1968

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,661
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Pasta, sorry to me it's vile, yeuch lol (and full of nasty carbs)
Nope.
Concise but correct. Happy with NHS nurses. :)
 

AndBreathe

Master
Retired Moderator
Messages
11,320
Type of diabetes
I reversed my Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Undoubtedly, many of us have had erm,.... sub-optimal experiences around diagnosis and post-diagnosis advice, and of course that's at best unfortunate, and at worse, it can lead to lack of progress, or in some cases, progression down the diabetes route, in the wrong direction.

I thought David Unwin's interview with the Fat Emperor to be pretty spot on to reflect how some Docs must feel and how others are likely to feel as Guidelines change over time:

As I've said many times, I was fortunate (although it didn't feel like it at the time) to be leaving the UK, so I had a number of months to decide how I would deal with these interactions moving forward. In the meantime, I found this, and another forum, where I learned loads, and fortunately home home testing informed me I was moving in the right direction.

Right up front I had decided that diabetes wasn't going to drive my life, for any longer than it took to get to grips with it. There's far too much living to do, and too many adventures to be had. From time to time, I'd actually need medical support because that's how life tends to work, so I decided I couldn't afford to alienate my Practise. I'd always been very happy with the practise and really didn't want to change, because the grass isn't always greener elsewhere.

The rest of my interactions with the Practise have been perfectly charming, although having got to very non-diabetic bloods within the first 4 months, the feedback has simple been "keep doing what you're doing", with no real enquiry what exactly that might be. I've only ever had challenging discussions since on my lipids, which don't fit the very basic NHS picture, but lifting the lid they're very good. I've shared my learnings and beliefs on lipids with the GP I usually see and she's now fine with it all.

I think we sometimes need to step back and look a the bigger picture, and of course, for some whose diabetes differs from mine, or who have symptoms of the beginnings of complications, their bigger picture may be very different to mine. As things currently stand, my health markers are all excellent, and I have a decent relationship with my Practise. Unfortunately, they have no appetite to explore implementing some of David Unwin's ways of working or his reduced carb programme, but rather that complete rejection, I just think of that as a work in progress.

We can't make others change, but we can make informed choices and changes to and for ourselves. We have to work out how we achieve continuing medical care, because things happen in life that are not diabetes related, so let's not throw the baby out with the bath water.

However challenging our interactions are with the NHS, at least we have it. In another place where I spend a far bit of time, there is no NHS and each and every thing has to be paid for, from the individual's pocket. For some there, they're simply never going to be diagnosed, never mind have constructive treatment.
 

Syd

Well-Known Member
Messages
93
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Doctors and nurses practise medicine in a practice.
 

midiansangel

Member
Messages
18
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
When people instantly assume that all T2's brought the condition on themselves!
I grew up with IFG, which I don't suppose was much of a problem for me, I was told regularly that I'd be "diabetic soon". 30 years later, I finally succumbed to what so many young and older members of my family succumbed to - T2 diabetes.

Because I knew when I was just 15 that this might happen to me, I ensured a good lifestyle.

I've always been " overweight" by the text book standards, although my BMI was good. It was all down to circuit training, rock and mountain climbing, cycling etc. Plus a healthy, balanced vegetarian diet. I was quite muscley for a woman I guess. My blood pressure was great, my cholesterol was also great (even though my mother and father had heart issues and cholesterol issues).

I was diagnosed just days after completing the Welsh Three Peaks Challenge.

The nurse I had at the time new nothing of my history or my family history and just told me that my T2 was solely s lifestyle issue. She was quite rude and abrupt.

I was told to lose weight, change my life style, eat better, do this, do that because T2 was 100% lifestyle related.

I've since had a new nurse, who bothered to take note of my lifestyle and told me just keep doing what I'm doing ... Although I've had to slow down a bit due to a little arthritis, but it's no big deal.

That first nurse was just a text book person, a bad example of her profession. I just hope that they latest one (first visit next month) is as good as the last

Sent from my B3-A20 using Diabetes.co.uk Forum mobile app