Aim To explore the experience and views of diabetes nurse specialists when they converted patients with type 2 diabetes to insulin therapy.

Method An exploratory qualitative approach was taken, which involved individual interviews with four diabetes nurse specialist employed in either secondary or primary care and with different levels of experience of this role.

Findings From the interviews conducted, the process of converting patients to insulin therapy did not vary greatly between the four nurses. Nine main themes highlighting the diabetes nurses’ experiences were uncovered during data analysis.

Conclusion There was little variation between practitioners in the procedure of converting patients to insulin therapy. This procedure forms an important part of a diabetes nurse’s workload. The nurses adapted their approach to individual patients depending on their needs although some common themes emerged during the interviews.