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CET

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
K

kentish maid

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I have noticed several times on here that diabetic nurses are giving out of date advice to new patients. Surely they, along with other health professionals, should be participating in CET (Continuing Education and Training) ?
 
I believe so. Though I've heard it phrased as CPD (continual professional development) for which going to various 'things' get you points.

Whether these points are required and/or policed I'm afraid I don't know.
 
I was discussing something along the same lines with my surgery nurse the other day. She said she had decided to retire, and not to do her revalidation, which needs to be renewed every three years. This is when nurses have to submit evidence of their CPD, and patient feedback etc, and write up case studies, that they've done over the previous three years. Reading between the lines, I get the impression that nurses leave it all til the last minute, then try and do three years catching up in one go. So maybe some nurses haven't done any CPD for a while. The other thing is, my nurse does everything at the surgery. Diabetes clinic, asthma clinic, flu jabs, dressings, smear tests etc. Even with the amount of CPD required, she's never going to cover updates on everything!
 
You are assuming that CET/CPD is available.

With the budget cut my company has put in place, there hasn't been any structured training for several years - it's just at the end of the financial year that some appears to use up the budget. Given how cash strapped some NHS trusts seem to be, I suspect they have a similar issue.

I keep up with what I need to do in my own time, but it is a bit unfair to expect everyone to do that.
 
If nursing and doctoring is the same as the minor professions like eg soliciting (ie the law!) or finance or insurance broking - unless we provide proof of so many CPD points 'earned' during the previous 12 months, we were not allowed to continue practising, allowed to continue to use our professional qualifications and could have our employment terminated!

One would hope the medical profession was at least as stringent as the insurance industry that paid my salary, wouldn't one?
 
So here is a sort of related question.
What is a Dr who is awarded a Fellow if he's already a Dr but not a consultant. Or does that mean he's a consultant?
S.
 
Robin said:
I was discussing something along the same lines with my surgery nurse the other day. She said she had decided to retire, and not to do her revalidation, which needs to be renewed every three years. This is when nurses have to submit evidence of their CPD, and patient feedback etc, and write up case studies, that they've done over the previous three years. Reading between the lines, I get the impression that nurses leave it all til the last minute, then try and do three years catching up in one go. So maybe some nurses haven't done any CPD for a while. The other thing is, my nurse does everything at the surgery. Diabetes clinic, asthma clinic, flu jabs, dressings, smear tests etc. Even with the amount of CPD required, she's never going to cover updates on everything!
Click to expand...
That's interesting. Maybe the GP should just have said he was referring me to a nurse for advice on my diabetes. The fact that he called her the 'Diabetic Nurse' automatically gave me the impression that she had specialised. If, like yours, she covers other things, then it would possibly be difficult to cover all updates.
 
kentish maid said:
That's interesting. Maybe the GP should just have said he was referring me to a nurse for advice on my diabetes. The fact that he called her the 'Diabetic Nurse' automatically gave me the impression that she had specialised. If, like yours, she covers other things, then it would possibly be difficult to cover all updates.
Click to expand...
There's a world of difference between a DSN, (Diabetic Specialist Nurse) who is hospital based, and has undergone specialist training, and a diabetes nurse in a GP surgery. Mine's had training in Type 2, but admitted to me that she asked the practice if she could go on a training course to learn about Type 1, and was told to look it up on the Internet and teach herself! ( on the grounds that she doesn't see enough Type 1s to justify the cost) In theory, she can consult one of the specialist nurses at the hospital, and if necessary, refer a patient to them, but in practice, she doesn't. I only found this out recently when I went to a DUK group meeting in a nearby town. If my diabetes wasn't under control, and I hadn't learnt so much on here, I think I would have been pushing to be referred back to the hospital.
 
We never know how much we don't know - until we meet someone who does know and imparts that info to us - that's the trouble!

Incidentally - a 'Fellowship' in any profession is only awarded if the applicant meets certain conditions - which might be extra exams, extra experience working in that field, may require affidavits from peers of patients/customers - whatever that organisation deems appropriate and it might not be automatic if you meet the criteria - if the organisation only awards so many each year or something.

'Consultant' is merely a job title and does not signify the level of actual qualifications of that person to do the job! (well above a certain level anyway, had he not had sufficient qualifications in the first place, he wouldn't have been considered to do the job and his application would have been refused)
 
I was interested to discover that in the practice I hope to be joining when I move, one of the doctors has a special interest in diabetes. I just hope the others have special interests in neurology, gastroenterology, and pancreas. Maybe that’s too much to hope for.🙄
 
trophywench said:
Incidentally - a 'Fellowship' in any profession is only awarded if the applicant meets certain conditions - which might be extra exams, extra experience working in that field, may require affidavits from peers of patients/customers - whatever that organisation deems appropriate and it might not be automatic if you meet the criteria - if the organisation only awards so many each year or something.

'Consultant' is merely a job title and does not signify the level of actual qualifications of that person to do the job! (well above a certain level anyway, had he not had sufficient qualifications in the first place, he wouldn't have been considered to do the job and his application would have been refused)
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks Jenny. That makes sense. This dr had done quite a lot of research about women's health, particularly heart disease. He did it connected to Edinburgh hospital (and university, i guess), I think. But that all I know. After his family were grown he left us after so many years, and took up a position at another university in Scotland.
Question answered.
S.
 
mikeyB said:
I was interested to discover that in the practice I hope to be joining when I move, one of the doctors has a special interest in diabetes. I just hope the others have special interests in neurology, gastroenterology, and pancreas. Maybe that’s too much to hope for.🙄
Click to expand...

MikeyB - In your shoes, I wouldn't be building up my hopes.

My surgery has a similarly proclaimed medic who told me during a "discussion" about my diabetes (non-diabetic levels and decent panel of results) that I shouldn't be asking questions because he'd had a very expensive education. I'm afraid my response was to ask him if he'd like to evaluate the financial value of my own set of honours as I had several to choose from.

To be honest, the man might have had an interest in diabetes, but it wasn't my brand of diabetes, and his communication style just turned off my listening.

Needless to say, I haven't joined any queues to see him again. Thankfully there is also a doctor there who makes no proclamation of interests, but does encourage candid discussion and patients who want to educate and inform themselves.

Good luck with your move. Are you moving onto the mainland?
 
I’m moving to Englandshire. The doctor with the interest in diabetes is a rather attractive young (ish) lady. 🙂 With kids, so presumably tolerant. That effect doesn’t happen with men. Is that sexist? If so, I apologise.
 
I find male doctors tend to be more interested in solving problems, while female doctors tend to be more interested in helping patients. That's a wild generalisation, of course, and doesn't apply to everyone, but I always make sure I see a female doctor because I want someone who will listen to me and work with me (and assume I'm as intelligent as she is) rather than someone who will patronise me and tell me what to do, however specialist his knowledge may be.

When we were planning to move here I was pleased to see there was a female doctor with an interest in diabetes at the local surgery ... but by the time we got here she had left :( Thankfully there was another female doctor who was quite good (she's gone now, too, waiting to see what new one will be like).

Returning to the original topic, my surgery was closed completely the other day because all the staff had gone off somewhere for a training day.
 
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