Research project with Malawian and Ethiopian nurses

In May a small team from the Centre for Global Burn Injury Policy and Research at Swansea University and Interburns led a workshop on implementation science and quality improvement for nurses working in burns. 8 nurses took part, 6 from the 3 main government hospitals in Malawi and 2 from key hospitals in Ethiopia.

Learning outcomes included: helping the nursing teams understand the role of implementation science in developing quality burns services; how evidence from research can translate into real changes in practice in a low resource environment; and providing a suite of analytic tools to help identify, analyse and address problems.

Many of the nurses have previously received EBC training, attended ABC Nursing programme in Ethiopia in February 2019, or have been faculty on these courses.

Subjects included the role of the nurse in quality improvement, evidence-based practice, patient safety, research methods and many other topics that were brought to life through practicals and case studies drawing on the experiences of participants. The workshop also built on practical sessions from the ABC Nursing programmes on topics such as infection prevention, pain relief and nutrition, as the nurses examined how to implement changes in the real-world settings of their own units.

A second training week where the nurses will develop their own implementation science projects is planned for July in Lilongwe.

Interburns would like to thank Dr Maria Beard for developing and leading the programme for CGBIPR; Maria is an experienced nurse who has completed a PhD on burn prevention in Malawi, and is also a member of faculty for the ABC Nursing course. We would also like to thank our colleagues Edna Ogada from the CGBIPR, Swansea University, our academic partner, and Lucy Kynge, who is leading the development of our online learning programmes for Interburns.

Funding was provided from the NIHR grant supporting the partnership between the CGBIPR and Interburns, as well as from Wales for Africa. Wales for Africa have also provided Interburns with an additional grant to support the development of nursing care in Malawi, focusing specifically on the teams at the 2 main government burn units based at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Blantyre.

Interburns would like to thank both Wales for Africa and NIHR for their continued support.