Content
Doctors and nurses hone emergency skills at USC
Medical and nursing staff from the Sunshine Coast and Cooloola Health Service District have already benefited from the recently-opened clinical skills training laboratory at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Paediatric resuscitation specialists trained 13 doctors and nurses from hospitals at Gympie and Nambour in emergency procedures for babies and children at the USC facility on Thursday 7 June.
The nursing laboratory is part of the University’s new science building which was officially opened by State Minister for Education, Training and the Arts Rod Welford last month.
This $12 million building was funded by a $6 million grant from the Commonwealth Government and $1.5 million in State Government money that was earmarked for the development of the state-of-the-art nursing facilities.
SCCHSD District Director of Emergency Medicine Dr Stephen Priestley said the purpose-built facility, which had been designed to replicate a hospital ward, was ideal for training doctors and nurses.
“It’s a large facility and is configured to enable both audio-visual presentations and hands-on training to occur within the same area,” he said.
“It’s got real hospital beds and equipment, which adds an extra layer of realism to the training.
“The objective of the Paediatric Life Support training was to teach certain skills related to managing acutely unwell or injured children, specifically for cardiac arrest, multiple trauma and overwhelming infections.”
USC Chair of Nursing Professor Edward White said the medical and nursing training exercise was a good example of how the University and the SCCHSD were working together to promote the health of the region’s residents.
Professor White said it was particularly pleasing, following last week’s signing of an agreement to formalise the strong links between the two organisations.
This agreement is expected to bring about strong job opportunities for USC graduates, shared research endeavours, University membership of the Health Service District’s planning committees and joint appointments in nursing and allied health areas.
A key objective of this agreement is to reduce the need for acute hospital care by taking a holistic approach to developing healthy communities.