Beth Kelly began her career as a practice nurse and progressed to become Clinical Lead and Diabetes Specialist Nurse at Wiltshire Health and Care, Salisbury Central Health Clinic. She shares her experiences and advice for those considering guiding their career towards helping people with or affected by diabetes.
My role as Clinical Lead and Diabetes Specialist Nurse (DSN) is to support people living with all types of diabetes to live their best life. This incorporates keeping them independent and well during acute situations such as illness, but also during the most exciting moments in their lives, such as having a baby, going to university, or travelling.
I was a practice nurse for a long time and enjoyed that. Every day was different, we dealt with a variety of acute and long-term conditions from all ages and aspects of health. I was asked to take over the diabetes clinic, as our current lead was leaving. I agreed somewhat reluctantly, but I fell in love with how diabetes reflected what I loved about practising nursing. No day is the same, and no person living with diabetes is the same, their diabetes is always different to the next person.
My personal development
I worked very closely with our local community DSN team and shadowed them. I also sat in on clinics with a DSN, and she came to do clinics with me as well. I slowly developed my knowledge and skillset over time. I began attending local events and courses. I then applied for a community DSN role, which I was lucky enough to get.
Once in post, I set about learning and networking as much as I could with diabetes specialists from across social media. I attended national conferences, and went to all the webinars and courses I could. My thirst for knowledge and networking led me to become a Director of the DSN Forum UK.
This role has opened many doors for me, and we work nationally with key opinion leaders on guidance and as a voice to support other DSNs. This work has led me to winning several awards. I eventually started to study for my MSc in Diabetes Practice at Swansea which was a great way to combine all my learning.
I completed my non-medical prescribing programme (NMP) to go with this. I also started to write about my experiences, and that led to being able to publish work in credible nursing journals.
I get to work with amazing people every day, both colleagues and people living with diabetes, and we are an amazing team in diabetes working across the UK.
"This role has opened many doors for me, and we work nationally with key opinion leaders on guidance and as a voice to support other DSNs."
Meeting challenges
Much of my work has been in my own time and not paid or renumerated. Nurses are not often allowed the same CPD budgets as our doctor colleagues are afforded. Therefore, any CPD we can do is a fight to get. I was very lucky that my MSc course was entirely funded through a scholarship, and I would never have had the opportunity if it was not for that. Being a single mum, I have quite often needed to put things in my career first (studying/attendance to conferences etc) and that has been a juggling act.
Diabetes is a long-term condition which can affect every part of someone’s life and their body. We need to have very broad, but also highly specialised knowledge, across a lot of diverse areas. As research develops more and more, information around diabetes is fast-changing, so you must be on your toes and keep up to date.
I get to work with amazing people every day, both colleagues and people living with diabetes, and we are an amazing team in diabetes working across the UK. I can say that many of my colleagues are also my friends and I think we are lucky to have forged those relationships. We have great working relationships with our multidisciplinary teams, from podiatrists to psychologists and dietitians. I enjoy change and I like knowing that new things are on the horizon, such as hybrid closed loops and new medications. We are constantly learning and adapting our practice.
DSN Forum
The DSN Forum recently held our first in-person conference organised by DSNs for DSNs. We had over 250 nurses attending, and the day went so well. We were keen to highlight the amazing but unique role that DSNs have in people’s lives and within the NHS. We wanted to create an event which empowered them, gave them some learning opportunities and showcased their amazing work too. Seeing so many people come along and get such a huge educational benefit motivates us to keep doing it.
Top Tips
For nurses wishing to work in the field of diabetes care, I would say immerse yourself in the world of diabetes as much as you can. Try to understand what the role of the DSN is by joining in with social media groups about diabetes nursing. Speak to your local teams and ask to shadow them as well. Spend time talking to people with diabetes about their lives in your normal nursing role whenever you get an opportunity. Keep updated with new information coming out and listen to the DSN Forum biweekly podcast. Attend as many events as you can both nationally and locally. Be interested and have the passion – because that is really half the job.
