Seeing a need in the community and responding to it must have been a huge motivator for a South Windsor resident as she topped the class in the course she did.
Narelle Artz is a community health nurse operating out of Hawkesbury Hospital and after seeing the steady rise of patients either with diabetes or becoming at risk of developing it, she decided to do something about it. She enrolled at UTS and did a one-year online Graduate Certificate in Diabetes Education and Management.
“I just thought, oh my God, there are so many people around here! We really need it!” she said.
On May 23 she was given a Diabetes NSW & ACT High Achiever Award for her result in the certificate, which was a perfect score.
"We have a lot of people with diabetes or who are at risk of diabetes come through our doors," she said. "Diabetes impacts other chronic illnesses and we work preventatively, so it was very important for me to deepen my understanding of diabetes so I can help people in the best way possible.”
But responding to the community need wasn’t the only reason she did the course. “I have a guilty secret,” she said. “I love studying!” The course also had a two-week practical component.
The qualification allows her to be a diabetes educator. She said pharmacists and GPs were also doing the course with her.
She’s hoping to start diabetes education sessions at Community Health at Hawkesbury, and hopes in the future to help open a regular diabetes clinic there.