Joy Notter

Evaluating a training programme at Viet Duc University Hospital in Vietnam

UNLABELLED Vietnams nursing competency standards (VNCS) were issued in 2012 as the legal framework on which the continuous nursing training programme are designed and developed. OBJECTIVES The study aimed to assess the knowledge, skills, and attitudes as well as the confidence of nurses regarding wound care at Viet Duc University Hospital before and after a new educational intervention. METHOD A comparative descriptive study was carried out in 2014 at Viet Duc University Hospital. The study reviewed knowledge, skills, attitude and confidence among nurses working in seven clinical departments. The data collection tools included a 48-knowledge-item self-administered questionnaire, a sixteen-item skills set, and attitude-item observation sheet and a thirteen confidence level-item observation sheet, adapted for the field of wound care. Data were loaded into Epidata version 3.1 and analysed with SPSS version 16.0. RESULTS The mean pre-training knowledge, skill, attitude and confidence scores were (117.78±24.94), (53.61±10.26), (54.39±8.02) and (1.18-3.59), respectively, while the corresponding post-training scores were (148.68±16.54), (62.33±8.40), (60.80±8.75) and (1.50-4.15) p<0.0001. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS This was the first cohort to undergo the new training programme and has shown promising initial results; however, it also demonstrates that the training content, while leading to positive changes, does in some areas need to be further developed and then disseminated across the hospital to all nurses who provide direct wound care for patients.

Implications of the James Bulger case for community nurses

The tragic and brutal murder of James Bulger has caused a public outcry and major political debate which has concentrated on two areas: the punitive aspects of the case and the need to protect the public from such outrages in the future. There has been little mention of other important considerations which are well within the remit of some branches of community nursing. Perhaps the clearest way to illustrate these is to relate a true story from the past.

Role of the health services in the aftermath of the Bulger case

The last few weeks have contained news of worldwide disaster and violence; however, the event that has caused most comment is the trial of the murderers of James Bulger which ended a week ago amid what can only be described as a blaze of publicity. The public has been bombarded with descriptions and extracts from witnesses and defendants, causing this appalling trial to raise questions in all walks of life.