Kate Smallman

Kate is a Nurse Practitioner specialising in diabetes and its related long-term conditions.

For more than four decades Kate has worked as a registered nurse, and it was in 1990 when research around insulin use was expanding, that her interest into the specialist field of diabetes was ignited.

Kate has worked in UK and NZ-based primary and secondary settings in a number of roles; diabetes nurse specialist, clinical projects manager, and clinical nurse diabetes specialist to name just a few.

Throughout her working career, Kate has successfully managed diabetes specialist nurse teams, worked alongside multidisciplinary teams to counsel and educate patients and their families on diabetes, and led a number of diabetes-related prevention and awareness education projects across New Zealand.

Pioneering research projects for Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa over the last few years has seen Kate birth new insights into diabetes medication and more recently, Kate continues to research the role of weight loss as a measure to reduce diabetes symptoms in obese adolescents.

Other notable research under Kate’s wings include; women’s knowledge of gestational diabetes, conversion rates of women with gestational diabetes to type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes in Chinese women, and the ‘Which One is Right’ medication study with Auckland University in 2019.

Today, as a Nurse Practitioner, Kate continues to share her in depth diabetes knowledge mentoring registered nurses, Nurse Practitioner interns, and GP’s.

She also works as an honorary professional teaching fellow for Auckland University, developing and delivering the ‘Diabetes Speciality Nursing’ post graduate paper.

Currently, Kate runs weekly clinics at two residential care homes in Auckland.

Academically, Kate holds an MSc in diabetes research from the University of Surrey and she has completed a number of post graduate papers from the University of Auckland.

Kate is a member of the Diabetes Sub-Committee PTAC, part of Pharmac, and for more than a decade, she has been the Honorary Secretary of the New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes.

“The accessibility and presentation of this content is really needed with COVID leaving many nurses and caregivers short in both funding and time for ongoing education. With ACEhub it's possible to consume a short video in-between day-to-day commitments without the need to take time off work or travel – it’s education for everyone, from anywhere. And as it’s my heart's desire is to improve health literacy for nurses and caregivers working with patients with diabetes, I'm grateful to Amtech for helping to get this education wide and far.” - Kate Smallman