Endocrine Abstracts

Since the introduction of the reduction in hours for junior doctors in 1991, nurse led clinics (NLC) have increasingly become embedded into specialist practice. Whilst some NLC such as Diabetes and Respiratory have been established for many years, in the area of Endocrinology they are a newer evolving concept.Currently there is limited research in this area. An online survey was distributed to 98 nurse members of the Society for Endocrinology. The questi...

The in-hospital pharmacological management of patients with diabetes has recently been identified by the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit as a key safety issue. Over 30% of inpatient drug charts surveyed in the 2013 audit had at least 1 diabetes medication error in the preceding week. Patients with a diabetes medication error on their drug chart were also twice as likely to have one or more hypoglycaemic episodes during their hospital stay.A paper by Br...

Background: Hypoglycaemia is considered a medical emergency and is treated as such. However, our experience as junior doctors has shown us that hyperglycaemia, despite being equally damaging to patients’ long term prognosis, can often be left to ‘run high’. This could be due to a number of factors, surrounding how often blood sugars (BM) are checked and how they are managed. We audited three standards set out in local guidelines for BM monitoring in diabetic pat...

Introduction: Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is characterized by the presence of supernumerary X-chromosome and thus a 47,XXY karyotype. This syndrome remains underdiagnosed, with only about 25% of patients being identified, and only 10% during childhood.Methods: Retrospective analysis of 11 KS patients followed-up in the Endocrinology Department of Coimbra’s Hospital and Universitary Center. The registered data included education and occupation, time an...

Introduction: Despite the commonality of hyponatraemia in everyday clinical medicine it is often a poorly management condition in acute medical patients. A European guideline for diagnosis and management was published in 2014 to address such problems.Aims: To assess the standard of management of patients with hyponatraemia admitted to the medical departments in a rural District General Hospital. To improve investigation, diagnosis, and management of thes...

Objectives: Glycaemic targets set by diabetes teams appear to have an impact on glycaemic control. Our objective was to identify if there is consensus between and within teams in our network on glycaemic targets and whether this correlates with HbA1c outcomes.Methods: An online survey was sent to all network members requesting an independent response on the diabetes self-management advice given to families. Three patient groups were considered: children ...

In 2007 a qualitative study of 36 patients’ observations of diseases, care and life disorders associated with Acromegaly was conducted. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are described. The sample cuts across both gender and age. Seven patients didn’t want to participate. The reason for this is only known for some of them. A literature search in a pilot study of nine patients revealed that this patient group was qualitative unexplored. Research interviews were conducte...

Aims: To assess the prevalence, investigations and management of hyponatraemia in hospital inpatients (previously deemed inadequate) over a 2-week period (1–15 May 2013) and compare with data collected in 2011, following the introduction of updated clinical guidelines in our trust.Methods: Hospital notes and electronic records of all patients with a sodium level of <130 mmol/l were analysed.Results: 43/255 (17%) patients h...

Adult endocrine specialist nursing (ESN) is a highly specialised role and in recent years nurses have expanded their roles according to local need (Kieffer.V, et al. 2015). As an Endocrine team we review our practice, striving to provide the highest standard of research based, patient centred care. This involves ensuring the best use of resources and service provision in an ever more demanding environment. A new initiative lead by the ESN with consultant supervision w...

Objectives: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) remains a life-threatening emergency. An updated protocol was introduced in Sligo general hospital in 2009 to standardise DKA management. The aim of this study was to audit current practice against the protocol standards.Methods: Clinical notes of all adult patients admitted with DKA between July 2009 and June 2012 were analysed and retrospectively audited against the protocol.Results: Fifty-...