700 nursing and allied health students complete basic life support training

Hundreds of Nursing and Allied Health students have been trained in basic life support skills at an education day held at Wrexham University.

The Interprofessional Education day, which was held at both Prifysgol Wrecsam/Wrexham University’s Wrexham and St Asaph campuses, saw more than 700 students watch demonstrations from Lecturers, before teams worked together to practice a range of basic life support skills, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Prior to the event, students had to complete an online e-Learning module, which Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board provided to help them prepare.

The students, who took part in the day, were from a number of healthcare courses, including Nursing and Allied Health degrees, which include:

• Adult Nursing
• Children’s Nursing
• Community Specialist Nursing
• Specialist Community Public Health Nursing
• Mental Health Nursing
• Nutrition and Dietetics
• Occupational TherapyOperating Department Practice
• Paramedic Science
• Physiotherapy
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Sports Injury Rehabilitation

Rob Evans, Senior Lecturer in Operating Department Practice (ODP) at the university, who co-ordinated the event, said: “I feel immensely proud that 700 of our first and second year Nursing and Allied Health students are now trained in Basic Life Support skills, following on from our hugely successful Interprofessional Education day.

“We’ve had lots of fantastic student feedback – especially around there being a real buzz about the day. It’s brilliant that we’ve actually completed mandatory training in such an engaging and team-spirited way.

“Having a focus on interprofessional skills and working is crucial for those looking to work in healthcare, once students have graduated and are working in their chosen profession – they will likely be in settings such as hospitals, where they will be part of a multidisciplinary team working with other health professionals, who are all vital parts of the patient pathway.

“Well done to all the students for taking part in the session and for their enthusiasm, as well as the wider team for helping to make this event possible.”

Charlotte Busby, a first year ODP student, added: “I thoroughly enjoyed the training and education day. It was a refreshing change from the usual way of training – one that will definitely be remembered, the live demonstration was brilliant.

“I’ve definitely taken a lot from the day, as we had the chance to get hands on ourselves under guidance, each demonstrating the different parts of basic life support, which was thought out and planned well.”