Intensive Care of the Polytrauma Patient
This undergraduate short course is aimed at experienced nurses and other acute healthcare practitioners involved in the care of polytrauma patients during the intensive care phase.
Entry criteria
Participants should be experienced practitioners who have completed relevant specialist intensive care courses and who are currently working within an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or High Dependency Unit caring for complex major trauma patients.
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Course length: Five days Course dates (five Mondays):
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Number of credits: 15 Level of study: Level 6 Assessment: Written essay |
Tell me more about the course... introducing course leader
Jane Roe
Course leader Jane Roe is employed by the NHS as a Lecturer Practitioner. She combines teaching in the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences with working as a nurse in the General Intensive Care Unit at St George's Hospital. Jane and her colleagues devised the Intensive Care of the Polytrauma Patient course.
What will students learn on this course?
To enhance patients' recovery and facilitate their rehabilitation, nurses need to have specialist skills and a broader knowledge base, all of which are covered on this course. We've found that some nurses working in this area have ended up in their jobs by chance and don't feel they've come equipped with all the training they need to perform really well. There isn't yet any formalised training along the lines of what we're offering, so this course is very special and a first in the UK.
Our students will encounter best practice from a variety of specialist areas. They'll also learn how to deal with the emotional side of working with patients recovering from severe injuries. Nurses tend to identify strongly with these patients. They're often young and healthy people who've been involved in terrible accidents, and their recovery can take a long time.
We're very lucky to have some experienced colleagues on board to teach - people who are experts in their field and have been working as intensive care and trauma specialists for some time. These include Sarah Leyland and Kathy Dalley, Team Leaders and Practice Educators on General ICU at St George's Hospital.
How did this course come about?
St George's Hospital was designated as one of four trauma centres in London in mid-2009. We recognised that we needed a course to equip nurses with the skills to improve the care of people with multiple injuries who have to stay in intensive care units for a long time. The NHS has commissioned the course and we've had quite a lot of interest from trauma centres and hospitals who want to send their specialist nurses on the course.
How will the course help students with their career?
Our students will be relating their learning to their current roles. We'll have small group discussions and will review cases students have come across in their practice, to better understand the issues particular to their line of work. As well as helping students become more confident and professional in their jobs, this course can be a first step to becoming a specialist trauma intensive care nurse.
We also have two other relevant courses on offer that may be of interest to nurses looking to further their career in this area: Initial Assessment and Management of the Polytrauma Patient
(aimed at practitioners within emergency departments) and Continuing Care of the Polytrauma Patient (aimed at practitioners within acute ward settings).
Does your practical work as a nurse influence your teaching?
Oh yes! I try to feed new things that happen in practice into the teaching straight away. Sometimes I already know the students on the courses, as they're often colleagues from the hospital.
How to apply
- Please contact the CPD Programme Office for an application form.
- Download the course overview (PDF 126K)
Related courses
- Initial Assessment and Management of the Polytrauma Patient (PDF 130K)
- Continuing Care of the Polytrauma Patient (PDF 124K)
- Download the CPD prospectus 2009-11 (PDF 3880K) for full details of our continuing professional development courses