Wound Care Day presented as part of Service Learning

The School of Nursing at the University of the Free State hosted a Wound Care Day where six groups of third-year students presented their case studies on wound care. Stakeholders that included patients from the broader community accompanied by their families, internal partners from the University of the Free State, MediClinic private hospital and wound care companies were among the audience and evaluators.

These multidisciplinary projects, which involve physicians, orthopaedic specialists and dieticians, stem from the service learning module, VRP324, in which students care for patients with chronic wounds for a period of six weeks. The outcomes of this module is to help students acquire skills on how to conduct research as a team, working independently in identifying and solving problems, collecting and analysing information accurately and communicating effectively.

Not only do students educate community members but they also engage staff members at hospitals and old-age homes in wound care projects. Although there has been a fair number of success stories during their operations, the 16 credit module exposes students to various challenges in terms of budget constraints, cooperation on part of the patient and family, conflicting advice, disagreements among group members and other expert interferences.

The successful occasion was brought to a closure with the announcement of the two teams who were selected as the winners of the day by a wound care specialist, Ms Anika Fourie from 3M in Gauteng, and then a wrap-up by the representative from MediClinic, Sister Thea Brits, with her presentation on pressure sores.

Click here for more information on the service learning component of VRP324.