I truly believe being a Tuberculosis (TB) Nurse Specialist is the best job in the world! It’s unique because we carry both a clinical and public health role. We look after individual patients, but are also part of the bigger picture of public health and health protection.
Being a TB Nurse Specialist requires many varied skills to care for patients through diagnosis to completing treatment. TB can infect any part of the body, so we are constantly learning. Once someone has been diagnosed with TB, they require close support to understand the treatment and the importance of compliance, especially because of the threat of antibiotic resistance. Treatment has to be taken daily for at least six months and can be associated with difficult side effects, so TB Nurse Specialists are vital in supporting and managing this. We visit our patients in a variety of settings, for example: on the ward, in clinics, at patients’ homes or even out in the community, wherever the patient can see us!
TB is commonly associated with poverty and social deprivation. Many of our patients have risk factors that make them more susceptible to TB and also more challenging for them to get through treatment, such as co-morbidities with HIV or diabetes, homelessness, mental health issues and substance misuse issues. Multi-disciplinary team working is essential and we have to liaise with doctors, pharmacists, social workers, health visitors and health protection colleagues to make treatment a success.
In addition to this complex role, we also have to consider the public health impact of this infectious disease. If someone is diagnosed with infectious TB (in the lungs), we have a duty to do contact tracing and screening. This can involve households, workplaces, schools and social settings. The aim of contact tracing is to prevent further cases of TB through latent TB treatment, but also achieve early diagnosis by identifying people before or as soon as symptoms of active TB disease develop.
Being a TB Nurse is a very varied and rewarding role. You have to work autonomously, but part of a team and have to care for your patients holistically to achieve treatment success. I would encourage anyone who is interested in working in TB to reach out to their TB team to find out more.
World TB Day is Friday 24th March. This year’s theme is 'Yes!'
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