With the support of the Victorian Trauma Foundation, the Victorian Clinical Nursing Consortium has been established to undertake a two year collaborative project to develop a Trauma Nursing Program for Victoria.

This is a unique collaboration between the College of Emergency Nursing, Australasia (Victorian Branch) and the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses Victorian Branch (ACCCN Vic.). It has been developed to allow these two well established professional associations to apply their extensive experience and knowledge resources to the continued professional development of Victorian nurses and to improve state-wide trauma care.

The Trauma Nursing Program has evolved in response to identified deficiencies in trauma management in Victoria. The Consultative Committee on Road Traffic Fatalities and the Major Trauma Management Study identified management problems leading to potentially preventable deaths from trauma throughout the whole trauma care spectrum - from injury to discharge. The purpose of the program is to improve the knowledge and skills of nurses caring for trauma patients in emergency departments, intensive care and wards and to improve the health outcomes of patients suffering trauma.
The Trauma Nursing Program aims to help Victoria’s nurses:

1. enhance their understanding of the role and function of Victoria State Trauma Service;
2. enhance their knowledge of the clinical management and pathophysiology of common trauma presentations;
3. practice specific advanced clinical skills required to manage patients with trauma;
4. promote improvement in the standard of care delivered to trauma patients by participating in clinical reviews of actual trauma cases.

Participants in the program will receive a Trauma Nursing Program Learning Package consisting of a workbook and a book of reference material. This material will take the participant through an approach to trauma management that spans the ages from childhood to old age and uses clinical cases as means of applying theoretical knowledge to clinical practice. Participants will be required to complete set activities and be familiar with the content of the learning package prior to attending a 2 or 2.5 day intensive workshop.

The workshop will be run by trauma nurses expert in group facilitation who will lead discussion of the clinical cases and set activities to allow participants to obtain feedback related to their learning and to promote discussion and application of the principles of trauma care to their own hospital environment. Participants will also be able to improve their trauma specific clinical skills through hands on participation in clinical skills practice stands led by experienced trauma nurses.

The approach to clinical skills and theoretical assessment will be rigorous yet conducted in a supportive environment. At the end of the Trauma Nursing Program, participants will have been assessed in trauma knowledge and clinical skills and will take home a certificate of attainment and an individualised record of their skills attainment. This record will be able to be used by the participant as a basis for planning their ongoing professional trauma development needs.
This program allows the participants to access contemporary trauma nursing knowledge that is specifically Australian in context (developed by Victorian nursing experts) and to undertake skills practice and assessments in a safe and supportive environment.

TNP has just launched its e-learning format.  Please visit the website at www.tnp.net.au

To register your interest and obtain more information please contact Jane Mateer, TNP Coordinator at the Trauma Nursing Program office on: 
Phone: 03 9349  2822
Fax: 03 9347 8522
Mail: PO Box 219  South Carlton Vic  3053
Email: tnp@tnp.net.au

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