Nurse's research pioneers new treatment plan for Iain Rennie patients
Ginny Allen, a member of IRHH's Wycombe nursing team, has completed a research project that could help to enhance the quality of life of many cancer patients.
Ginny researched the unwanted side effect of raised blood sugar, or hyperglycaemia, which can arise in cancer patients who are prescribed steroids. As a result of her work, our nursing teams are being supplied with simple machines to monitor patients' blood sugar levels.
Ginny explained: "Many of our cancer patients are prescribed steroids to manage symptoms such as pain, nausea, loss of appetite and general malaise. This treatment can be very effective in managing symptoms but can also produce unwanted side effects.
"Hyperglycaemia makes patients feel awful. They are tired, weak and thirsty, but it is so simple to treat. I decided to focus on this subject after two occasions when we were called out to patients who had become very ill with hyperglycaemia that had not been identified. Neither of these patients were known to be diabetic so the conclusion was that the hyperglycaemia was the result of the side effects of the steroids they had been prescribed."
Ginny researched the topic for her BSc (Hons) in palliative care at the University of Hertfordshire . She discovered that one in five patients taking steroids, who have no history of diabetes, will develop the condition as a result of taking steroids. This is known as steroid-induced diabetes. Her work also identified the need for IRHH nurses to be equipped to carry out blood sugar tests themselves.
"Previously, we had to call out district nurses when we suspected a patient had raised blood sugar. Now all our nurses will be able to monitor regularly the blood sugar levels of every patient who has been prescribed steroids."
Ginny, who graduated from the University of Hertfordshire last year, has been with IRHH for seven years. She is passionate about nursing and began work on her degree after being promoted to Clinical Nurse Specialist four years ago.
"The whole IRHH team supported me in my research project and I could not have done it without the fantastic support of my husband, Mark." she said.
26th February 2010
