An adaptable service: putting patients' needs first in nutrition nursing

I was so surprised to be nominated for the BJN Nutrition Nurse of the Year Award and absolutely delighted to have won. I have worked in the Nutrition Support Team at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust since 2016. Starting as a nutrition nurse, I then became senior nutrition nurse and I am now specialty clinical lead for the team.

I have spent a large part of my career in gastroenterology nursing, first as a staff nurse on a gastro ward, working in inflammatory bowel disease nursing – I always thought that gastro nursing would have my heart. Nutrition as a specialty allows me to continue to nurse patients with gastrointestinal problems, but it has also allowed me to learn a great deal about other specialties and how nutrition can affect so many conditions.

I am grateful that my role and the role of the nutrition nurses in the team are so variable, which reflects the variety of areas covered by the role around the UK. Some nutrition nurses focus on enteral nutrition, others solely on inpatient or home parenteral nutrition. But, in Leicester, we do it all! This has its challenges but it means that staff are kept on their toes. I am grateful that the team can adapt to working in a variety of areas. I am lucky to have three nurses and three dietitians in the team, supported by a wider team of gastroenterologists, surgeons, biochemists and microbiologists. We support patients who receive parenteral nutrition as an inpatient and have a cohort of patients in the community who require home parenteral nutrition.