Endocrine nurses have been around in some institutions across Australia and New Zealand for decades. Yet still, many tertiary hospitals do not employ specialist endocrine nurses, despite the strong presence of diabetes educators and other specialist nurses throughout our health service. I contend that a true tertiary level endocrinology department is incomplete without a strong endocrine nursing service.
My first contact with endocrine nurses was in 1993 at Christchurch Hospital, when I was a first year advanced trainee. There were three half time nurses who shared the load. Our set up was designed for efficiency and proximity – the consultant and registrar offices, outpatient clinic rooms, Endocrine test centre, Endocrine / General medicine ward and Endocrine laboratory were situated within about a 20m walk. The special tests sisters were efficient, knowledgeable, unflappable, kind and most of all for a newly sprung endocrine registrar very supportive. There was no endocrine condition they had not seen. Their roles included routine blood sampling for the clinics, dynamic tests of endocrine function, a myriad of research projects led by endocrine legends like Eric Espiner and Rick Donald and patient education. They held your hand and guided you through the scary tests like ITTs!
After leaving Christchurch, I have worked with wonderful nursing colleagues at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne and Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane. Over the time I worked at these hospitals, we developed a specialist endocrine nursing service which has streamlined dynamic testing and provided consistent and high quality education for patients with complex endocrine conditions.
In recent years, the place of the endocrine nurse in patient care has been recognised as an essential service by the Endocrine Society. Convincing cash-strapped hospital administrators is a challenge but one worth fighting for. I simply could not do my job without you!