Ever since I had my second child and had to spend seven days in a maternity hospital I have had a huge fear of ever being admitted to hospital again. That might sound a bit extreme but it’s the truth. I did not have any confidence that any of the staff in the hospital had the ability to care for me should I become incapacitated.
When I was invited to speak at a nurse’s diabetes training day I thought that I might charge in there seeing them as the enemy. Thankfully, my husband, who is very, very, very smart said that I should see it as a chance to let these very important people in the health service know how important it is to me that they are knowledgeable in diabetes and to commend the health service for providing the nursing profession with this opportunity.
Basically, this one day was part of an intensive diabetes training course for people working in the nursing and midwifery profession. And I was invited to give a patient’s perspective.
I talked about all the things I did on a daily basis to management my diabetes, such as the blood glucose testing, carb counting, record keeping, etc., and all the things I felt were important extras, like a good support system in the background and knowledge.
Afterwards, I had loads of really interesting questions. They seemed really interested in learning from me and in my 18 years of experience.
When I walked into the room my objective was to try and explain how diabetes was so complicated to manage and that it wasn’t just as simple as following instructions from a medical professional; I hope I achieved that.
And in return, I received hope that the next time I have a stay in hospital, (because let’s face it, there is no way that I will live out the rest of my days without ever being admitted into a hospital), that I have a bit more confidence in the staff to looke after me.
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