Diabetes Specialist Nurse. Meet the Primary Care workforce: Diana Igwe

Meet Diana Igwe, a Diabetes Specialist Nurse working at Long Catlis Road Surgery in Gillingham. Diana is a Trainee Advanced Nurse Practitioner and part of our Leading Excellence in Advanced Practice (LEAP) Programme. Learn more about her interesting and varied role.

Transcript:
My name is Diana Igwe and I work as a Lead Practice Nurse specialising in Diabetes, at Long Catlis Road Surgery in Gillingham, Kent.
Could you please share your training and career journey?
I used to be an Accountant working in London, but after I had my second child and seeing the way the Midwives behaved at the hospital, I realised they must love their job. I was tired of the commuting to London, so I decided to train as a Nurse, gaining my qualification at Canterbury Christchurch University. After a while, I did a Master's Degree in Diabetes Studies. After I graduated from Nursing, I took on a post as a Rotation Adult Nurse, where you spend four months at a time in a community setting and my last placement was with a Community Diabetes Team and it was really interesting. I ended up getting a job working with that team. I then left to work in a GP Practice, at the time the management of diabetes was not as good as it is now and I had to leave as it was difficult to organise. I had various job roles, such as in the Prison Service and as a Care Home Manager and then I moved to a hospital as a Specialist Diabetes Nurse. I worked in Secondary Care for several years before moving back to General Practice and eventually working at Long Catlis Road Surgery.
What is the Leading Excellence in Advanced Practice (LEAP) Programme? What is your role?
The LEAP programme is a leadership programme and I recommend anyone in leadership to do it. Although I have a degree in Business Management, being a leader and being a manager are two different things. During the LEAP programme I learnt that being a leader is not just about managing, you need to be a leader that everyone aspires to be, this has helped in my career and home life. The coaching sessions taught us so much, we were assigned coaches during the programme and they were there to listen and teach you. We learnt many different aspects of leadership.
What does your role in General Practice entail?
I play a lead role at the surgery and even though I specialise in Diabetes, I have a varied role, as I am a Trainee Advanced Nurse Practitioner chosen by Health Education England (HEE) as one of the first cohorts of professionals to be formally recognised as an Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP) through the ePortfolio route. I manage the Nursing staff and I not only deal with Diabetes, but I manage Women's Health and Cardiovascular Management as well. Sometimes I am also involved with immunisation and vaccinations.
How does your role benefit the practice and the patients?
My role benefits the practice, particularly with Diabetes, as I have worked in both Primary and Secondary Care, I am better placed to know what the patient needs. The waiting list for a diabetic patient to be seen at a hospital is very long, but as I work in a General Practice I see a lot of pre-diabetic and diabetic patients and I am able to do the majority of treatment here, without them waiting a long time to be seen at the hospital.
What are your career plans in the next 2-3 years?
As I have been a Diabetes Nurse for 15 years now, I have a plan to target community leaders more when it comes to diabetic management; where we go out and meet with them and deliver education on prevention of diabetes and ensure that every General Practice has a Diabetes Specialist Nurse.

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