Elaine Corden is the principal renal dietitian at CUH. She joined the CUH family in 1992 and has worked in dietetics her whole career. Here Elaine tells us more about the 30 years she's worked with us.
I came to Cambridge fresh faced out of university in July 1992, initially on a 2 month fixed term contract and have never left!
Dietetic degrees at that time were all four years in length and involved a seven month clinical placement in Year 4; degree courses now have multiple placements spread across the whole course. I came to Addenbrooke’s for my clinical placement in July 1991, starting a new job as a qualified basic grade dietitian a year later wasn’t daunting; I was welcomed back with open arms!
The dietetics department had 11 staff members when I started – the specialist team I manage is now nearly double this number. I have been fortunate to work clinically as a basic grade, senior II and senior I dietitian under the old Whitley grading system covering a wide range of specialisms and units that have moved, morphed and been renamed / rebuilt, such as A2 and A2 annexe which became NCCU. I feel as if I have worked multiple jobs in neuro, eating disorders, liver, transplant, and renal without ever moving from the CUH family.
Renal dietetics has been a constant in my clinical career for the past 30 years; I have covered all areas of nephrology in CUH, but Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) has been my mainstay. The close working of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and chronic, long term patient cohort are particularly rewarding. I have known some of my patients and their families for many years, hearing stories about their lives, pets and children growing up.
It’s especially satisfying when a patient is successfully transplanted and starts a new chapter in their life, off dialysis.
Having worked in this area for such a length of time, I do see patients who have had a successful transplant for in excess of 25 years return to PD when it starts failing. I like to think I get more comments of ‘It’s great to see you again’ rather than ‘You’re not still here, are you?’
The niche remit of my post involves the nationally commissioned service to Encapsulated Peritoneal Sclerosis (EPS) patients where we offer specialist surgery to renal and non-renal patients from all over the UK and further afield. A large percentage of these patients have significant problems with eating food and absorbing nutrients so need a considerable amount of dietary input both before and after surgery. Each patient presents differently and we have a whole spectrum of patients from those on liquid only diets to those unable to eat anything and reliant on IV feeding (Parenteral Nutrition). Inpatient stays for surgical intervention can be long (typically one month) with patients geographically a long way from visiting family and friends. Our EPS MDT is small, work well together and the patients and families get to know us really well over a long time period. They are (usually) happy to see us on the wards for advice and a friendly chat where we can break up a long day with potentially no visitors.
Seeing such complex patients as outpatients after surgery - eating, enjoying food and free from abdominal pain is the icing on the cake!
For the past 20+ years, I have steadily increased my managerial responsibilities for dietitians, dietetic associate practitioners and dietetic assistants who work within the Renal, Hepatology and Gastroenterology specialist team. It’s a rewarding and busy role that fills my work days – be that recruitment, appraisals, offering support and expertise, and developing staff and dietetics to these clinical areas.
There is also a sense of satisfaction looking around the department and knowing I was involved in the recruitment of a great number of staff who have enjoyed working at CUH and have developed into senior roles.
No two days of work are the same and my plan for the day often is taken off at a tangent when I read my inbox with short deadline requests.
I enjoy my job and I am proud to work within such a friendly and supportive dietetic team. Nephrology appears to also be a clinical area that staff find satisfying as many members of staff have been there equally as long as me – I regularly bump into ‘old’ colleagues still working in transplantation or dialysis. It’s nice to still be remembered and recognised when I pop up to the wards and walk around the campus. One of the benefits of a long length of service is that I have worked alongside a lot of people, so there is always someone to smile and say ‘Hello’ to everywhere I go!