Diabetes Specialist Nurse

The Band 7 Diabetes Specialist Nurse will provide expert, evidence-based care for adults with diabetes across inpatient and outpatient settings, with a key focus on supporting perinatal diabetes servicesand women with diabetes during pregnancy.

The post-holder will act as an autonomous practitioner, delivering specialist clinical care, education, and support to patients with complex diabetes needs, including those with pre-existing diabetes and gestational diabetes. They will play a central role in the multidisciplinary team, working closely with obstetric, medical, and midwifery colleagues to optimise glycaemic control and improve maternal and foetal outcomes.

This role requires a high level of clinical expertise, leadership, and decision-making, ensuring safe, effective, and patient-centred care while improving access, reducing complications, and supporting delivery of organisational and national diabetes care standards.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Registered Nurse
• Teaching and Assessing or Mentorship qualification Educated to Degree level
• Independent nurse prescribing qualification or willingness to complete this

Desirable

• Educated to Masters Level

Experience

Essential

• Experience of working within a diabetes specialist nursing team

Desirable

• Insulin Pumps initiation and management
• Experience of guideline writing, appraisal and development

Skills

Essential

• Ability to teach in groups and on a one to one basis
• Ability to work as part of multidisciplinary team
• Ability to participate in service development and the implementation of change
• Ability to work autonomously and analytically when interpreting patient's condition and taking appropriate action

Desirable

• Good IT skills including use of MS Office applications
• Experience in Trust wide computer systems i.e. ICE, IPM, Nerve Centre

Personal Characteristics

Essential

• Able to work under pressure and deal with stress

About the employer

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity and creating a culture that values differences.

Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarize yourself with all requirements of the job.