Accident and Emergency staff trained to provide trauma care

Hannah Johnston, Accident and Emergency sister and also trainee advanced practitioner coordinated yet another successful trauma related one day course for A+E staff.

Hannah has set up 3 courses this year, and this will lead to a rolling programme with 3 courses spaced out through the year. The aim of the session is to train all band 5 and above nurses in trauma immediate life support.

Hannah said: “I am the trauma lead for the department and I attended a course in Lincoln a couple of years ago and I was able to learn more about trauma care and I wanted to adapt what I had learnt, and develop a similar course at Blackpool where we can train staff in the department”.

Mr Simon Tucker, consultant in emergency medicine is very supportive of Hannah’s eagerness to engage and develop with the staff in the department.

Hannah Johnston providing demonstrations to her team.

Simon said: “There was a real need for more trauma training to staff in A+E who will be treating patients with trauma.

“There are big changes in trauma care, set to improve standards. This was highlighted though a peer group review, which found a gap in trauma services. The hospital was told to improve and develop a better, more patient focused system.

“A lot of courses related to trauma care are hugely oversubscribed and expensive, so it has been fantastic for Hannah to develop the ‘in house’ course off her own back, as she picked up on the need for training standards of care to be improved”.

Hannah said: “We are training all band 5-7 staff who work in the emergency department. By 2018, all staff will be trained up.

“The one day course we have keeps the information relevant and it is adapted to the trauma network, which allows us to keep up to date with any changes in trauma care.

“It is really important to have our nursing staff ready to see patients who will enter the department with trauma, we want all our team to feel confident and improve their knowledge”.

Staff members of the A+E team practising spinal immobilisation with the sim man. 

Simon said: “We have identified and focused on the roles and responsibilities within the department and adapted this into an open learning and safe environment.

“We encourage our team to ask questions, to make use of the faculty and explore. It is a great opportunity to practice assessments, and placing chest drains and arterial lines to name a few of the skills we review during the course.

“We want to make sure all staff gain competence and confidence through our course, to encourage a slick trauma service”.

“As part of the one day course, a section of the day is focused on simulation (scenarios). We focus on human factors skills, communication, management of patients and teamwork.

“As the adult trauma centre is at Preston hospital, here at Blackpool we will often only see the seriously injured trauma patient who will not survive the time it takes to transfer the patient to Preston. We need a strong consultant led trauma service, and I feel confident having a knowledgeable team around me”.

Hannah said: “The feedback from our courses has been fantastic! The staff found the courses to be engaging, and helped them feel empowered and confident to apply their knowledge to the real life setting.

“It has been very successful, and great to give our staff the reminder for them to follow processes step by step. The staff gain a minimum level of knowledge for them to be competent in trauma care”.

Posted in Excellence, Home Page, People Centred, Positive, Press Releases.