Greetings from the UK!!
My name is Andrea, and I am the founder and creator of a Facebook group called ED Training Group. It is called ED training group as that is where I work but anyone in the healthcare care field can join. It is suitable for any grade or level of staffing from student nurses up to doctors.
I am a qualified adult nurse, qualifying at Northumbria University in The Northeast of England in 2003. I went directly from qualifying to work in Accident & Emergency, which is a regional major trauma centre, as a junior staff nurse. I have been there now for 19yrs.
I worked my way from band 5 junior nurse to band 6 clinical sister. I then went into a band 7 nurse in charge/coordinator role. After deciding management wasn’t the path I wanted to follow I went into my current position as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner. I am an independent non-medical prescriber (level 7), and I am currently completing my Masters at my local university in Advanced Practice to become a registered Advanced Care Practitioner.
I also have:
ALS (Advanced Life Support)
ATNC (Advanced Trauma Nursing Course)
TNCC (Trauma Nursing Core Course)
ETC (European Trauma Course)
BSc in adult nursing (Critical Care Pathway)
Trained mentor
Level 6&7 clinical skills
PILS (Paediatric Intermediate Life Support)
RCEM (Royal College of Emergency Medicine) yr 3 trainee (final year then can credential)
And many many informal courses and teaching along the way.
ALS (Advanced Life Support)
ATNC (Advanced Trauma Nursing Course)
TNCC (Trauma Nursing Core Course)
ETC (European Trauma Course)
BSc in adult nursing (Critical Care Pathway)
Trained mentor
Level 6&7 clinical skills
PILS (Paediatric Intermediate Life Support)
RCEM (Royal College of Emergency Medicine) yr 3 trainee (final year then can credential)
And many many informal courses and teaching along the way.
Alongside all this I am a wife and a mother to a 6yr old and 4yr old. I started the group initially as a page for staff in my department to gain confidence in skills and topics but was asked very soon after setting it up if others could join from outside of the department and that is how the group became international.
I started the group in May 2022, and I now have over 7000 members. The group is free, and I only advertise free content. The group was an idea I had after witnessing a healthcare assistant carrying out a lying and standing blood pressure incorrectly. My first reaction was frustration at how simple a task it was and how could someone not be capable of doing a simple task. Before I let myself speak negatively about the event it dawned on me that she had probably never been shown the correct way. She was new to the department, 21yrs old and had never worked in healthcare before. I pulled her to one side so as not to embarrass her and asked if she knew how and why to perform the investigation. The answer to both was NO. It took me minutes to explain how and why we did a standing and blood pressure and actually didn’t take me away from my job or tasks for any amount of time to make an impact on my day. I made a video on the correct technique and posted it that day.
The ethos of the group is assumed knowledge and skills. Things aren’t taught because it is assumed to be known and people are too afraid to ask in fear of looking silly or stupid. It is a safe learning environment where comments are turned off so that there can be no negativity or show boating. Allowing people to have bite sized learning on topics which are pertinent to the Emergency Department but can be transferable into any aspect of healthcare.
I am not an educational expert and do the group in my own time around work and parenting. I like to see the group as an introduction into topics that individuals can either refresh their already existing knowledge or experience exposure to new learning that they had never considered. I try to keep the topics generic due to different trusts, positions and countries all being members and always advise to refer back to local policies and guidelines.
Feel free to join and have a look and invite others/share the group if you feel that it would be useful.
I am a firm believer that knowledge should be shared to empower each other and not be kept as power to an individual.
Much love,
Andrea
1 comment
Hi I would love to share your link on my business Facebook page. If you follow the link below you can read about me, Nursing and Midwifery Advocacy Solutions, what I do and why I do it. I am based in Brisbane, Australia.
Regards Vicky https://nursingandmidwiferyadvocacy.com.au/