Heartbeat: New learning for HCAs on mental health and impact of alcohol

January 2, 2020

Knowledge and skills development was the outcome of a recent special training day for healthcare assistants (HCA) within medicine and emergency care.

Organised by Fiona Boddy, Practice Development Nurse, it incorporated medicine with caring for those with mental health problems and alcohol-related issues.

Sessions were held by the link nurse for diabetes and the alcohol team, delivering insight into how sufferers may react to certain treatment.

Fiona said: “We wanted the study day to work as a refresher for some more experienced colleagues and to provide knowledge and guidance for newer staff. It was also to give all those who attended an insight into self-development available at the Trust. This includes things such as the nursing associate programme and the care certificate.

“Whilst there have been study days arranged for our HCAs in the past, this is the first time I had done something like this in my role.” She added: “We had some lovely feedback from both sessions. I know our staff enjoyed Victoria Adcock’s session on diabetes. Others connected and engaged with the talks run by liaison psychiatry and the alcohol team. Colleagues said they enjoyed learning something new from these sessions.

“Those who are more experienced said they felt some of the medical talks were a good refresher and would be a great introduction for new HCAs. They are hoping for something more advanced to be covered during the next study days. This includes incorporating some more hands-on teaching (simulation etc.) which is great feedback. It shows us where we need to go with our training for some colleagues and what information they’d like to know about.

“I’m hoping that the feedback from these two primary sessions will help us develop the day to something more advanced. We’d like colleagues to truly benefit from this and feel it’s relevant to their roles.”