Maintaining clinical skills to support the sick child

Remote, rural and island health workers can now access a new and inclusive learning resource, which supports the needs of sick children and their families and makes it easier for staff to keep clinical skills up-to-date.
The “Early recognition and assessment of the sick child: a skills maintenance tool” is a NES resource developed through collaboration between the Remote and Rural Health Educational Alliance (RRHEAL) and Child and Maternal Health colleagues.

The audio visual resource uses a simulated scenario to demonstrate best practice when dealing with a sick child in a rural setting.  It introduces a set of learning objectives covering: appropriate professional behaviours, a structured approach to clinical assessment, early intervention where necessary, the need for ongoing observation and re-evaluation with a team approach to care delivery.  

Dr Tom Beattie, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Royal Hospital for Sick Children Edinburgh and Paediatric Advisor to the Chief Medical Officer, Scotland explains: “Emergencies in children occur much less frequently than in adults, but when they do they need to be recognized and treated with rapidity and accuracy. This DVD captures many of the essential features of sick infant assessment and provides a visual educational tool which will be very useful for the non-specialist practitioner.”

The online tool is designed to be used by practitioners who want to:

• consolidate their learning from the NES Recognition of the Sick Child programme
• keep their clinical skills up to date in an efficient manner
• replicate standardised approaches when interacting with a sick child, its family or carers.

It will also be of value for clinical teaching, clinical de-brief/significant event support, small group teaching and one-to-one revision and consolidation.  

Remote and rural clinicians contributed to the development of the tool, ensuring the context represented is both rich and realistic.  

Dr Andrew Rowlands, Consultant in Emergency Medicine, NHS Highland said: “Hopefully, by adapting the educational lessons of advanced Paediatric care to the clinical environment in which rural practitioners actually practice, this will be seen as a very relevant and useful resource.”

This open resource is hosted on both RRHEAL’s education platform: http://www.rrheal.scot.nhs.uk/educational-tools/child-health-.aspx
and the Children and Young People’s Services Managed Knowledge Network (MKN) www.knowledge.scot.nhs.uk/child-services
and offers an effective online method of learning.  A copy of the narrated script is available to support those using the resource to facilitate learning.

It makes a significant contribution to the aims and ambitions within the Scottish Patient Safety Paediatric Programme (SPSPP), to improve outcomes in hospitals and in communities across Scotland.  

Professor Stewart Irvine, Director of Medicine, NHS Education for Scotland said:  “The acquisition and maintenance of key knowledge and skills will have a positive impact on the reduction of adverse events and support staff who work with children and young people to respond appropriately to emerging clinical situations, leading to safer, person centred and effective care.”

The development of alternative methods of educational delivery is significant for remote and rural workforces, when mainstream communication routes can be inaccessible or unreliable.  However, this inclusive and accessible resource is transferable to and has value for any health worker engaging with sick children and young people, remote or urban.

Inclusive educational delivery includes providing resources that can be viewed online.  This can support those studying alone or in groups and can form a component of regular skills maintenance/ update sessions.