Nursing & Health Care School

The speciality of burn injury and reconstructive plastic surgery care is concerned with initial treatment and subsequent repair and reconstruction of lost, injured and deformed/diseased parts of the body. The physical, emotional and psycho-social reaction to burn injury or conditions requiring plastic surgery intervention, require practitioners to have an advanced level of knowledge, skills and understanding to meet the challenges required for caring for this patient group. The Graduate Certificate in Burns and Plastic Surgery for Adults and Paediatrics aims to enable practitioners to meet the challenges presented in caring for patients within this speciality by developing an enhanced level of knowledge and clinical decision making through research based learning and independent study.

As a precursor to the development of the Graduate Certificate in Burns and Plastic surgery: Adults and Paediatrics a questionnaire was sent to staff caring for burn and plastic surgery patients within Scotland of whom 96% respondents perceived the need for the course

Students can choose to study one, two or three courses in any one year. To gain the Graduate Certificate in Burns & Plastic Surgery Care for Adults and Paediatrics all three courses must be successfully completed within three years. Students attending study days are responsible for arranging, and funding, their travel or accommodation costs. The three compulsory courses required for the Graduate Certificate: Burns & Plastic Surgery Care for Adults and Paediatrics are as follows:

Principles of reconstructive plastic surgery and burn injury care: NURSING3028 (20 credits):

This course aims to increase students’ knowledge and understanding of patient care in relation to burn injury and reconstructive plastic surgery and apply this to clinical practice in the acute and rehabilitation settings. The course provides the student with the knowledge base of anatomy and physiology to understand the healing and rehabilitation required to recover from injury. The fundamentals of pain and infection control are introduced alongside psychosocial care for this patient group. This course is delivered in October and is completed by December.

Plastic and reconstructive surgery - adults and paediatrics: NURSING3027 (20 credits):

This course will increase the practitioners’ knowledge of the current techniques, developments and research in the area of plastic reconstructive surgery and will enable the practitioner to provide evidence based care.  It also addresses the long term, multi professional management of these patients. This course is delivered in January and is completed by March.  

Burn injury - adults and paediatrics: NURSING3002 (20 credits):

This course aims to increase practitioners’ knowledge of current techniques, developments and research in the area of burn injury care to enable the practitioner to provide evidenced based care from acute admission through to rehabilitation. This course is delivered in March and is completed by May.

The programme will have an induction day prior to commencing the individual courses. All students are strongly encouraged to attend this day.

For each course, the three consecutive study days are held at the beginning of the twelve week study period. These are full days of lectures, group work and activities. Students are provided with a resource pack to promote self directed learning and are also given access to the online learning site, Moodle.  All registered students on the Graduate Certificate are required to access Moodle for resources and as a means of communication.  Communication with the programme leader, course leaders and other students is actively promoted using formative activities and online student forums. The course leaders are available to support all students throughout their time of study.

The multidisciplinary nature of the courses allows students to study alongside the health professionals with whom they work on a day to day basis. Multidisciplinary learning engenders informed discussions that give professionals a more in-depth understanding of each other’s skills and expertise.

Assessment

All courses include a variety of formative assessments to support students to develop learning, critical thinking and writing skills prior to submitting a summative assessment. These include: pre-course work books, quizzes, enquiry led learning and debate. By completing these formative assessments students will be supported to complete the summative assessment. Feedback for formative assessment will be through peer assessment, self assessment and comments from the course leader. This feedback will inform students about their progress and demonstrate areas of weakness and strength. 

In each of the three courses the summative assessment is a 2,500 word referenced assignment to demonstrate critical appraisal and application of the key concepts and theories studied. The assessment submission dates for each course will be made known in each course handbook and online