Improving emergency triage and treatment

We are excited to launch a new initiative in the coming months to conduct quarterly trainings in Emergency Triage and Assessment (ETAT) for nurses and doctors, and to provide ongoing mentoring and support between courses to ensure the skills are implemented in clinical practice.

Welbodi has been committed to training since our inception. We believe in the value of training people in knowledge and skills and providing them with the opportunity to refresh what they have learnt in the past. As part of this commitment to training, we have on several occasions facilitated a World Health Organization (WHO)-designed course for nurses called ETAT, Emergency Triage and Treatment. During the four-day course, nurses are taught to recognize emergency signs and commence emergency treatment. The busy but fun course is something the hospital staff members always look forward to.

Over time, we realized that to make these ETAT courses even more successful, we needed to ensure that what was taught in the classroom was transferred to the wards. It is this implementation that will change nursing practice and improve the quality of care provided in the hospital.

As a result, Welbodi is now supporting a new initiative, developed along with our hospital partners and approved by the Sierra Leone Institute of Child Health (SLICH) board, to conduct ETAT training 3-4 times a year for both doctors and nurses. Crucially, we will also launch an implementation and mentorship phase to follow the initial course, as well as a one-day refresher course for those who have already been through the course.

Together with a nurse educator volunteering with VSO, the Welbodi team will soon conduct a mentorship workshop with some of the nurses who successfully completed ETAT in the past and who are now excited to teach others. That way, they can help us deliver some of the ETAT training, as well as provide one-on-one mentorship on the wards after the course has been completed. We will also purchase four manikins, to be used during the training to teach hospital staff life saving skills.We are sure this new program will improve the standard of care in the hospital.