Working Life: There can be a lot of embarrassment around issues with the bowels
Angela Mullen, nurse specialist, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Cork University Hospital (CUH)
5.45am
I never leave home without a large coffee to see me through the 50-minute commute from Clonakilty to CUH.
After parking offsite, I enjoy the 15-minute walk to work. It’s a great way to de-stress and plan the day. As an IBD nurse specialist, a big part of my job is keeping patients with IBD out of the hospital. A lot of it is virtual management: when I arrive at work, I go through queries from patients sent in via email, text, telephone, and I triage my caseload.
Clinic starts. We see newly diagnosed patients, patients undergoing treatment, and those returning for review. We could potentially have 50-80 patients in the clinic on a given day, a mixture of virtual and those who physically come in. A lot of our work is educational. IBD is a life-changing, life-limiting condition, and we aim to help people live their best lives. There can be a lot of embarrassment around issues with the bowels.
I try to get out for a quick walk.
I go through emails to see if anything urgent has come in. If patients are starting treatment, we need to do specific safety bloods. I go through blood results and check if they’ve had any problems since their previous clinic visit before starting treatments. The cause of IBD is unknown but there’s believed to be a genetic predisposition, triggered by environmental factors. Symptoms include diarrhoea, stomach aches and cramps, blood in your poo, fatigue, weight loss, and mouth ulcers.
The IBD multidisciplinary team sits down after clinic to discuss complex cases and treatment plans. We might need to put patients on new treatment regimens. We have some very effective medications now and generally outpatients come in for review twice yearly.
As secretary of the IBD Nurses Association of Ireland, I’ve some emails to respond to. I recently represented the association on Gutcast, the first podcast for people with IBD in Ireland, developed by Crohn’s and Colitis Ireland (CCI) and Johnson & Johnson. The podcast series brings together healthcare professionals and people living with the condition to provide practical advice and information.
It’s available online at janssenwithme.ie/gutcast as well as on Apple Podcast App and Spotify.
Finish work. I enjoy my commute home.
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