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‘General practice nurses need mandatory menopause education’

General practice nurse petitions for compulsary training to improve quality of menopause support in primary care – in light of her own experience when she entered early menopause

General practice nurse petitions for compulsary training to improve quality of menopause support in primary care – in light of her own experience when she entered early menopause

General practice nurse Elizabeth Wenden-Kerr

A general practice nurse wants menopause awareness training to be mandatory for general practice nurses – because of her own experience.

Elizabeth Wenden-Kerr had anxiety and other psychological symptoms during her early menopause, but despite her nursing knowledge she was not immediately aware of the underlying cause.

She said there should be funding for all general practice nurses (GPNs) to undergo accredited education with the British Menopause Society or the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare.

The aim would be to improve support for women, trans and non-binary people experiencing menopause symptoms.

‘It was just pot luck I spoke to a GP who suggested menopause as cause of my anxiety’

Ms Wenden-Kerr undertook the training herself after being diagnosed with primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), or early menopause. She said her difficult experience with POI made her realise she did not want other women to face the same challenges in menopause.

‘I didn’t know what I was going through. I had psychological symptoms that I couldn’t speak to anybody about because I couldn’t quite describe them. There was anxiety, rumination and constant worry. It was incredibly difficult. And it was just pot luck that I spoke to a GP who said “this is what it could be”.’

Petition calls for mandatory menopause education for GPNs

She set up a petition calling for mandatory training for GPNs gained more than 10,500 signatures and she is now awaiting a response from the UK government.

Following her training, Ms Wenden-Kerr started menopause consultations at the Woodstock Road Surgery in Belfast, where she works, telling Nursing Standard she has had ‘excellent’ feedback from women who otherwise would not have known what to do as they went through the menopause.

General practice nurses are best placed to support menopausal women

She now wants to see a menopause-trained nurse in every GP practice in the UK to help patients manage symptoms.

‘There is currently no mandatory training and I’m starting with this becoming mandatory for practice nurses because we are best placed to support women. We see them all the time and face-to-face for a variety of health issues and screenings,’ she said.

‘I know the RCN states that all nurses should have an understanding of this but I want it to go further with funding for accredited courses.’

Better-informed GPNs would result in improved nurse retention

She believes such education could help with nurse retention and cut financial strain on the NHS through better health promotion among menopausal women.

‘You hear about nurses leaving work because of severe symptoms and I think if we know more about the condition, we can look for appropriate treatment options and better support for nurses,’ she said.

‘Those going through menopause are also at a higher risk of issues like heart conditions, diabetes and osteoporosis. If women are informed of those risks, these can potentially be reduced by providing information, including lifestyle advice.’


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