EXTENDING REACH
RGU working to upskill NHS staff for COVID-19 crisis Over recent weeks RGU has quietly and effectively been collaborating with the NHS to create an army of professionals who are stepping selflessly into new roles.
Groups of dental nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians, and speech and language therapists are embracing new learning in order to use their considerable talents and expertise in a time of crisis. These expert practitioners are redeploying back into the NHS to deliver care at frontline in different ways. Many will work in wards as healthcare support workers, delivering essential nursing care to the acutely unwell at a time of national crisis. RGU is working closely with NHS Grampian to deliver the rolling programme of training, which employs a mixture of digital and face to face learning, focused on fundamental nursing care as well as the surveillance and care of the acutely unwell.
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Much of the face to face teaching has been carried out in RGU’s Clinical Skills Centre, a purpose-built teaching and training facility which is designed to allow healthcare professionals to practice clinical skills in a safe but realistic environment. A further programme of training is also being delivered to complement the existing skills of groups of senior specialist nurses as they too step into different roles to work with the most in need across Grampian. Leading the collaboration from RGU is Strategic Lead for Collaborative Practice and registered nurse, Laura Chalmers, who has a background in critical care.
