How to Use this Programme
This clinical skills programme will support practitioners in their studying, enabling them to work at their own pace, and learning about chest drains in the context of their own practice.
Each participant should negotiate a suitable time frame for completion of the suggested activities contained within the programme with their assessor. Participants should aim to complete the programme within a 12 weeks time frame. Although, for students it may be possible to extend this time, to say, an academic year, to allow the student to have enough exposure to chest drains. It will be appropriate for some healthcare practitioners to undergo training in both the insertion and care of chest drains and some only the on-going management and removal of chest drains, depending on their scope of professional practice. However, all healthcare practitioners that may assist with the insertion of chest drains or care for patients with chest drains in place require some familiarity with the procedure and the under-pinning theory behind the skill.
Practitioners should begin working through the pack prior to attending a simulated practice session. Practitioners should arrange supervised practice with an assessor in their own clinical area or within an undergraduate clinical placement. There are circumstances when practitioners will require supervised practice out-with their own clinical area and this should be negotiated with supervisors/managers. Supervised practice should only occur following attendance at a simulated practice session. Unsupervised practice should only occur when the assessor deems the practitioner competent (successful completion of both theoretical and practical assessments). An assessor will be a practitioner who is competent in the skill of chest drain insertion or management and familiar with this programme. Throughout the text, activities are provided which will encourage the use of reflective, decision-making, observational and cognitive skills.
Assessment includes:
- Answers to theoretical assessments must be checked by the assessor using the marking guide and the procedural checklists provided. Assessors should guide practitioners to reference material in the resource pack if the practitioner does not provide similar answers to the marking guide.
- Practitioners will be assessed using procedural checklists during simulated practice sessions. Practitioners successfully completing this assessment are deemed safe to undergo supervised practice in their clinical areas.
- Assessors must use the 'Assessment of Skill Acquisition' tool provided to assess the practitioners' practical application of the skill during supervised practice. The Assessment of Skill Acquisition form should be completed a minimum of 3 times. The number of assessments required will depend on individual competency. Completed assessment forms should be retained by the practitioner and not the assessor. The practitioners who are deemed not yet competent must undergo a further period of supervised practice.
- For some, such as undergraduate students, completion of simulated practice and theoretical assessment will be all that is required to complete the pack. However, the student, either Nursing, AHP or Medical will still require to undergo supervised practice and 'Assessment of Skill Acquisition' at the post-graduate level of Chest Drain competencies are required.
Evaluation:
To continually improve the pack we would like to know what you thought of it by taking a few minutes to fill in the evaluation form (accessed here) on completion.
To ensure accurate recording and update of the clinical skills database, please ensure you return the completion certificate(s) when you have finished the pack.
