This is a personal blog and is in no way associated with my role or employer. It contains personal reflections.
I have type 1 diabetes, diagnosed in 1979. I started my nurse training in 1983 and I have always had a very active interest in the care of people with long term conditions, such as diabetes, and how we can help them (including me) to manage their conditions to enable them to live full, healthy and happy lives, as far as this is possible.
Information and therefore information technology is a critical part of how we help people and my blog will have content that relates to what is called ‘clinical informatics’ – but my main passion is where this is in support of nursing practice, or supporting patients directly.
I also have an interest in leadership – we need health services to be the best that they can be and leadership is essential for these services to thrive. More latterly I have been trying to focus on sharing my leadership learning and thinking – I am learning all the time, my ambition is to share what I learn as widely as possible.
My blog is a mash-up of all of these things. It is a reflection of being someone with diabetes and all that comes with that, of being a passionate nurse and someone who is interested in the development of self and others. Over the time I have been blogging I have come to terms with the fact that my social media presence is a real ‘mash-up’ of all of those things that make me who I am and I have decided to embrace it! What you see is what you get 🙂
Hope you enjoy the blogs – I would love to hear your comments if you feel you want to join in the conversations.
anniecoops 
Sorry I missed you at the event today but I enjoyed reading your blog. I can’t believe they didn’t allow diabetics to study nursing!
Hello Annie! I just read your ‘A new dawn’ article. Loved it. I myself have type 1 and I’m a former type 1 researcher. A few years ago i decided to take a new career direction by focusing on diabetes from a public health perspective rather than laboratory/under the microscope (pathology). I’ve been taking a ‘science sabbatical’ of sorts so i can brainstorm a product/service that would leverage technology to help people with diabetes (large numbers) better manage their disease (read- avoid complications). One idea I had is an online diabetes platform that consolidates all social media (twitter, Facebook, etc.), blogs, medical/scientific info in one place. Features like:
categorize posts/articles across different sources
drill down into social media posts (positive vs. negative sentiment on pumps, diet,etc.)
tool to upload BG logs and produce written summary that is actionable
match people in various ways (struggling w/DM & excellent control, local, demographics, interests- sports, etc.)
Show statistics (not boring graphs) from onsite surveys, data on members (biggest obstacles, etc.)
These are just a few of the ideas Ive had. What are your thoughts? I spend A LOT of time by myself thinking about this stuff so I WELCOME any other input.
Thanks so much
Patrick
Hi Patrick – thank you and good to hear from you. Drop me and an email and we can talk there as I tend to lose these messages along the way. Happy to chat
anniecoops101@gmail.com
Hi Annie
I have Diabetes (T2) but it has never stopped me being involved and in fact I work as a Diabetes Champion.
Also may I recommend to anyone that is no longer in full time work to have a look at what your local University of the Third Age (U3A) has to offer. My local U3A (where I have recently retired as Chairman) has 950 members and offers interest groups in over 75 subjects. It’s a great way to meet others socially.
When I retired some 10 years ago, I was in a state of shock at losing the everyday contacts of business, so I set out to find opportunites for volunteering. Today I am an Expert by Experience, carrying out inspections for CQC at GP practices and care homes. There are always volunteering opportunities at local hospitals.
Every wish with your oldies campaign and I give it my wholehearted support.
Best regards
David Trigger (@TriggerDavid)