Julie Begum

Ms. Julie qualified in 2002 and worked in elderly care, acute medicine and emergency care before taking up a sister’s post on a general medical ward. She began her career in Rheumatology as a clinical nurse specialist in 2008 and took an interest in patients with early inflammatory arthritis. She has been part of the team that has developed the early inflammatory arthritis pathway within the department to ensure patients get access to treatment and follow up care appropriately. She led the team in the recent HQIP national audit on inflammatory arthritis which has seen the Luton and Dunstable Hospital recognised by BSR as a best practice site.

Julie successfully set up the regular patient and public information events for rheumatology that was recognised in a local awards ceremony in 2010 for "improving lives". She undertook and obtained her independent nurse prescribing qualification in 2015, took up her lead nurse post in rheumatology in late 2016, and looks forward to teaching at the University of Bedfordshire on the pre-registration nursing course on long-term conditions in March 2017.

Her passion for the last few years has been the education of new rheumatology nurses. She has developed her own brand of rheumatology educational sessions regionally entitled "Learning Rheum" focussing on core skills for rheumatology nurses. She hopes to continue working on this project and to go on to develop resources and online training to support new learners in Rheumatology. Her other interests include health promotion and psoriatic arthritis.