Poster presentations

Nurses play a pivotal role in caring for women around the time of menopause and in the years beyond. In both primary and secondary care, nurses are increasingly involved in assessing women for suitable treatments, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and in the ongoing support and monitoring of women on therapies. They advise women about risk of osteoporosis, interpret investigations and often have an in-depth understanding of the risks and benefits of HRT and other therapies. Within this specialist field of practice, some nurses will have a basic level of knowledge while others will be practising to a high degree of expertise – often described as ‘nurse specialists’. In 2002, a survey was carried out to evaluate common practice of nurses working in menopause and consider the educational needs of such nurses. This survey revealed that there were wide differences in clinical practice among nurses of all levels and that the experience and training of menopause nurses were hugely diverse. Of those nurses who described themselves as ‘specialist’, few had completed any formal education in menopause and yet most considered this an important aspect of specialist practice. With the Nursing and Midwifery Council currently consulting on the area of specialist practice in nursing, it is becoming increasingly important that nurses are able to demonstrate levels of competence within the field in which they work. In the light of this, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) National Menopause Nurse Group was established. Its aims are: