Aster braces for third wave, announces upskilling courses for healthcare workers

Bengaluru: Keeping up with its commitment to save lives, Aster Hospitals, Bengaluru, on Friday launched an Advanced Life Support Training in Paediatrics with special focus on Covid-19 in children. This course is for healthcare workers to educate and train 50 frontline individuals in Covid-related care and treatment protocols. These courses aim to train healthcare professionals in tackling the third wave and enable them to assist the doctors in treating patients.

The customized training schedule varying from 2 days intensive workshop to 6 weeks self-paced course will include 50 nurse trainees and rapid response team members in the first batch who will be taught about basic and advanced life support, Identification of a sick child, Covid specific signs, symptoms, clinical course, and early warning scores for hospitalized patients under monitoring, etc. Additionally, the healthcare group is also conducting simulation-based training for nurses to prepare them for the third coronavirus wave and beyond.

Under the simulation-based training, the hospital provides hands-on exposure to the professionals on clinical case scenarios, skill training, team dynamics, and human factors, escalation of care matrix, and grief counselling. In the long run, Aster Hospitals Bengaluru is also planning to adopt technologies like AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) that can enable simplification of learning through gamification of concepts and can ensure continuous and remote learning in a pandemic-like scenario.

Speaking on the launch of this initiative, Dr Sujatha Thyagrajan, Senior Consultant, Paediatrics & Paediatric Intensive Care, Aster Hospitals, said: "Simulation-based training and focused rapid skilling modules are being developed specifically for the nurses to ensure the unreached are reached. A curriculum has been developed that involves knowledge enhancement via accessible e-learning modules with pre-test and post-test MCQs so that the learner can work at their pace and gains the basic understanding of caring for an ill/sick child.

The learning involves recognition of a sick child, assessment, triage, and the understanding of principles of management of a sick child. The videos of key stabilization procedures and interventions are developed for the trainee to learn at their pace. Management of oxygen devices, resuscitation and ventilator management modules are made easy to understand and apply a blended method of learning via simulation and mentorship. A few scenarios are conducted via simulation of the commonly seen paediatric emergency situations and its management. We have set up a system to practice in person as well as via remote location with structured debriefing to ensure effective reflective learning. Based on the performance of each of the learners, they will be graded as Levels 1/2/3 and such assessments will facilitate the rational use of the workforce at the bedside and ensure patient safety."

"This training module once ready can then be scaled up to plan widespread repeatable training modules across the state including rural areas with digital penetration and make it accessible to all. While the third wave is still speculative, there is no denying that children are more likely to be impacted as they are unvaccinated. Even though the severity of the disease and overwhelming infections and hospitalization that were seen in adults may not happen in children unless the virus mutates, case reports of newborns getting affected have increased.

Keeping this in mind, we will have to separate the newborns born to Covid-hit mums in a separate space and train adequate doctors and nurses caring for them. Therefore, with these modules, we are preparing to take special care of new mothers in cases of prematurity, cardiac involvement, and other varied antibody-mediated effects akin to MIS-C. Furthermore, we are also enrolling nurses from local nursing homes for training and are planning to expand our reach through AR and VR modules," Dr Sujatha Thyagrajan further added.

Aster Hospitals, Bengaluru has collaborated with over five other hospitals to train the healthcare workers and create a model workforce to fight any medical crisis.