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nursing career?

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litto-miss-loz

litto-miss-loz

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
hey all

hope your all well.

Im wanting to hopefully go to college and study nursing but just wondered if being a diabetic means I cant or is it aloud? cause I know some jobs you cant do if your diabetic and just wondered if this was one of them ?

ta
 
Hi Loz! We have several members here who are nurses and I believe TomH is just about to start training, so no - there is no bar to being a nurse if you are diabetic 🙂

Most of the things you can't do are to do with driving/flying planes/scuba diving/joining the armed forces etc.
 
Not to sure i think it may be ok, TomH is training to do the same
 
aww is there?? well if anyone whos doing nursing could give me some advice then that would be fab :D

Ive got ma interview this week at college and it says they will be doing health checks... so im like eeek im diabetic ?? lol

thanks peeps much appreciated xx
 
Litto-miss-loz

I qualified as a RGN long before I was diagnosed and have continued to work in various nursing jobs since, although wasn't allowed to rejoin Territorial Army - I'd resigned hoping to emigrate.

As long as you pass the occupational health requirements, there's no reason why you can't train as a nurse of any type - general, mental health, learning disabilities, children. There's no compulsion to specialise in diabetes, just because you have it. You will need to cope with shifts, irregualr meal breaks, physically and mentally demanding work, although reasonable adjustments for your condition / disability should be made. Showing that you've thought about such things shows that you are responsible and a problem solver, which can only be good.

For definitive advice about training and practicing in UK, the governing body is Nursing & Midwifery Council http://www.nmc-uk.org/

Nursing Times is the main weekly journal for nurses: http://www.nursingtimes.net/ forum is especially worth a look - click on Opinion and Debate

Royal College of Nursing is another good source of advice, although not everything is available to non-members - see http://www.rcn.org.uk/
 
Copepod said:
Litto-miss-loz

I qualified as a RGN long before I was diagnosed and have continued to work in various nursing jobs since, although wasn't allowed to rejoin Territorial Army - I'd resigned hoping to emigrate.

As long as you pass the occupational health requirements, there's no reason why you can't train as a nurse of any type - general, mental health, learning disabilities, children. There's no compulsion to specialise in diabetes, just because you have it. You will need to cope with shifts, irregualr meal breaks, physically and mentally demanding work, although reasonable adjustments for your condition / disability should be made. Showing that you've thought about such things shows that you are responsible and a problem solver, which can only be good.

For definitive advice about training and practicing in UK, the governing body is Nursing & Midwifery Council http://www.nmc-uk.org/

Nursing Times is the main weekly journal for nurses: http://www.nursingtimes.net/ forum is especially worth a look - click on Opinion and Debate

Royal College of Nursing is another good source of advice, although not everything is available to non-members - see http://www.rcn.org.uk/
Click to expand...

aww thanks so much for your advice. Il have a read at these pages.
Im glad that I should still be able to pursue a career in nursing.

ta 🙂 x
 
I think there are some diabetic nurses here. Good luck, I'm sure you will be a brilliant nurse.
 
Hi Loz,
as everyone else has said no it doesn't stop you training to be a nurse 🙂
Good luck with your nursing studies.

I met a lovely nurse who has had type 1 for 30 years last month at the local A&E who very kindly stitched my thumb back together.( No idea why it should open up after running said thumb along a sharp blade to clean it on my garden pruners) 🙄
The lovely nurse was most interested in my pump as hadn't seen one before, and asked if I would find the time to come show the other members of staff the pump and explain it's workings to them. As being so far out in the sticks they miss out on things like that.
 
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Going off topic now, but I think Little Miss Loz has got the idea that diabetes is no automatic bar to nursing.

Following Sue's point, nurses anywhere can't be expected to know everyhting and may miss out on some aspects of life that some of us think is very important. I once spoke to a national travel health conference about expedition nursing, and someone asked "what's a bivvy bag?" when I showed picture of examples of accommodation I'd used on various trips. When I asked my new consultant for information about outdoor activities instead of pregnancy when she sent a leaflet to all women of appropriate age and asked for comments, she invited me to come & speak to the clinic team, where I showed them the advantages of zip off trousers for injecting into thighs and a bouyancy aid with lots of pockets for food & blood glucose meter, as wel las more universally needed camera, sunglasses etc when kayak touring.
 
Litto-Miss-Loz,

As Northerner has said, I am indeed about to start my training in September this year. At the moment I'm working as a health care assistant in Brighton.
Diabetes isn't an obstacle to going into nursing at all. You just have to be a little bit more careful with BGs. When starting at university and hospitals you will have to undergo occupational health checks. You'll also have to see them in person and let them know you're in decent control and that you're safe to go onto the wards. They don't need much convincing. Then there's the question of immunisations such as Hepatitis B. Those'll be done for you at occupational health.
Nursing is a physical job. There's no questioning that. It'll take you a little while to work out basals and that to suit your shifts (if I recall rightly, you pump). You won't be able to get a pattern to suit the shift perfectly as each day is so very different. Only nights are somewhat more predictable, they don't really affect the diabetes too. I've just finished my first stint of nights and I like them quite alot.
Meal breaks and that will be irregular. Quite often I wait a good six or seven hours into my thirteen hour shift to go and get something to eat and time to kick back for a little. I tend to depend on caffeine at times. Monstrously sweet tea keeps me running. That and the copious amounts of cake brought onto my ward at times. You will have to know when to stop and say that your D is getting in the way. My colleagues would rather I was in a decent state to carry on working without compromising patient's safety. I won't hesitate to tell them I'm going Pete Tong. Pumping makes my life so much easier at work.

Tom
 
TomH said:
Litto-Miss-Loz,

As Northerner has said, I am indeed about to start my training in September this year.
Tom
Click to expand...

What's the situation on fees ? When he was grilled by the Nurses recently Lansley didn't know whether Nursing Degrees were going to be subject to the ?9000 a year fees or not . The possibility is astonishing - having to pay up to ?27,000 to qualify as a Nurse !!! The ConDems will have to sort that out surely.
 
TomH said:
Litto-Miss-Loz,

As Northerner has said, I am indeed about to start my training in September this year. At the moment I'm working as a health care assistant in Brighton.
Diabetes isn't an obstacle to going into nursing at all. You just have to be a little bit more careful with BGs. When starting at university and hospitals you will have to undergo occupational health checks. You'll also have to see them in person and let them know you're in decent control and that you're safe to go onto the wards. They don't need much convincing. Then there's the question of immunisations such as Hepatitis B. Those'll be done for you at occupational health.
Nursing is a physical job. There's no questioning that. It'll take you a little while to work out basals and that to suit your shifts (if I recall rightly, you pump). You won't be able to get a pattern to suit the shift perfectly as each day is so very different. Only nights are somewhat more predictable, they don't really affect the diabetes too. I've just finished my first stint of nights and I like them quite alot.
Meal breaks and that will be irregular. Quite often I wait a good six or seven hours into my thirteen hour shift to go and get something to eat and time to kick back for a little. I tend to depend on caffeine at times. Monstrously sweet tea keeps me running. That and the copious amounts of cake brought onto my ward at times. You will have to know when to stop and say that your D is getting in the way. My colleagues would rather I was in a decent state to carry on working without compromising patient's safety. I won't hesitate to tell them I'm going Pete Tong. Pumping makes my life so much easier at work.

Tom
Click to expand...

I guess the one thing I would be worried about is if I was ever dealing with a patient then I suddenly started to hypo??? obvi i cant just leave the patient so I can go sort myself out?
One side of me is desperate to go to college and study nursing, yet the other side is like no dont bother... I guess il just need to go for my college interview and see what its like..
Is it a nurse you want to be or do you want to like specialise in a certain area?
 
litto-miss-loz said:
I guess the one thing I would be worried about is if I was ever dealing with a patient then I suddenly started to hypo??? obvi i cant just leave the patient so I can go sort myself out?
One side of me is desperate to go to college and study nursing, yet the other side is like no dont bother... I guess il just need to go for my college interview and see what its like..
Is it a nurse you want to be or do you want to like specialise in a certain area?
Click to expand...

I just grab the nearest person to take over from me. Simple. They understand and know that the patient's safety is at the forefront of my mind.
At first I wanted to do diabetes nursing however, after a few months working on my ward (trauma and orthopaedics) I wouldn't mind doing ordinary ward work. If I find anything interesting along the way I'll have a crack at it. I like the sound of A&E or Acute Medicine.
Just turn up to your college interview, see what happens and crack on. Perhaps work as an HCA for a little while? See how you like it.
 
TomH said:
You'll also have to see them in person and let them know you're in decent control and that you're safe to go onto the wards.
Click to expand...

I spent 6 months working for the same hospital as Tom, and I didn't have to meet them in person (I did it all over the phone) - just to clarify this is not always the case.
 
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