First UK burns qualification for nurses launched
14/04/2008(18:37)
The UK's first burns specialist qualification has been launched, which will improve the treatment of patients.
Backed by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), the 60-week course has been launched by the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust.
The course consists of specialist training in burn injury management from admission to discharge, critical care and burns rehabilitation.
Rachel Robertson, a senior sister at Wythenshawe Hospital's burn centre and one of the first to enrol of the course, said: "Recruitment in this area, and paediatric burns, is a problem. Staff come in with little or no burns experience and learn on the job.
"Working in a hospital I only have rough idea of rehabilitation so, personally, I’m really looking forward to learning more about that towards the end of the course."
Jacky Edwards, the programme leader and a clinical nurse specialist in burns at Wythenshawe Hospital, said that previous programmes have combined burns and plastic surgery, which "doesn't work well for nurses who don't have exposure to plastic surgery".
A survey recently found that nurses and doctors in the NHS have a higher level of job satisfaction than last year.
Click here for medical jobs at JobServe