NEWS This autumn, a new advanced course in intensive care starts at Umeå University. The course is 15 credits and is aimed at nurses and doctors with at least 12 months' experience of working in intensive care.
The in-depth course in intensive care is aimed at intensive care physicians and intensive care nurses with experience, and is the first to be offered here in the north.
"The course will be a development opportunity for both intensive care nurses and specialist doctors," says Karin Jonsson, who is one of those responsible for the course.
The course is available in a similar format in the south, but is the first of its kind here in Norrland. This is something that the course management believes will provide increased opportunities for doctors and nurses in the northern regions to attend.
"What we have here, which is not available in the south, is the interprofessional track that will be a theme throughout the programme," says Karin Jonsson.
Interprofessionality means looking at teamwork, and is based on all the professional roles that exist around the patients in the ICU.
"Intensive care is quite complex, with seriously ill patients, so it is important to include several perspectives in all aspects, not just intensive care nurses and specialist doctors, even though the course is aimed at these professions," explains Karin Jonsson.
Unlike other clinical workplaces that work more separately from each other, intensive care is special because there are so many different roles that work closely around the seriously ill patient.
"The team is very central. You work very closely together in the team. We have few opportunities to practise this together, so this is a way of meeting the need for further training," says Alicia Edin, who is also one of those responsible for the course.
Intensive care is complex, but also very progressive. The care is constantly evolving, so the programme will be a good complement and further education for those who have studied the specialist programme before. Intensive care includes many areas and specialities, where training can be given within each speciality. This course wants to work broadly and cover most things.
"The idea is that the course will cover many areas within the intensive care speciality, to learn more in many specialisations, explains Karin Jonsson.
There has long been an interest in participating in similar courses given in the south, but the difficulties have been to get there. Now that it is offered up here in the north, there are more opportunities for staff in the four northern regions to participate. The programme also has an orientation and a focus on the challenges we have up here in the north, with large distances and thus also different ethical challenges.
"We have a lot of transport, logistics and sometimes special ethical challenges where you cannot move a patient," says Alicia Edin.
The course will include precisely these challenges, how to think when they arise.
"For example, how to optimise the patient before transport, what happens afterwards and what happens when the patient returns. We send many patients between us here in the northern regions," explains Karin Jonsson.
It also requires the regions to cooperate and collaborate, something both Karin and Alicia believe will be strengthened after the course.
"We hope and believe that we will have a better network and cooperation in the clinical work, when you get to know other nurses and doctors from other intensive care units, says Alicia Edin.
Since those who can apply for the course are already trained specialists, there will be plenty of expertise and experience in the group.
"Many of the people taking the course are competent people in their own right, but now we have created a forum and a structure for that," Alicia explains.
The idea of the course is to learn together, and that there should be a give and take in the group discussions, interspersed with seminars and simulations. The meetings will have different themes in areas such as respiration, circulation, ethics, transport and infection, where the nursing aspect is included in all parts with medical issues.
The course is conducted at quarter speed with a total of seven course sessions spread over two semesters. Each session includes three days of physical lectures, seminars, simulations and group discussions. Between the meetings there is own preparation, but the idea is to be able to work clinically as usual except for the physical meetings. The simulations will take place at Clinicum Betula where there are rooms with specific training equipment.
The course structure with thematic orientations comes from experiences since the pandemic, when staff from the entire hospital had to be trained in intensive care.
"It became tangible with different themes for the participants," says Karin Jonsson.
The course is free of charge and it is hoped that it will attract many applicants as there is no course fee and it is provided by Umeå University.
The idea of the course is to retain people who have worked for a while in intensive care, a continuing education that many have lacked, especially on the nursing side.
"You want further training and development in your profession. There is always more to learn," says Karin Jonsson.
Registration opens on 15 March