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Nurse training to enhance care for brain injury survivors

Care offered to people recovering from strokes and brain injuries is to be enhanced by a specialist study programme for registered nurses.

An online course was developed at the University of Edinburgh in collaboration with the RCN Foundation and brain injury charity, SameYou, to help nurses respond more effectively to the effects of neurological conditions – a leading cause of death and long-term disability in the UK.

The part-time postgraduate certificate in Neurological Rehabilitation and Care supported registered nurses to learn while working clinically and could be studied online from anywhere in the world.

The course was developed in partnership with the RCN Foundation and the charity SameYou, which was set up by actor Emilia Clarke who survived two life threatening brain haemorrhages. As the ambassador for the RCN, Emilia is committed to enhancing the skills and academic improvement for all nurses.

Nearly one in three people will have an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) at some point in their life. More than 135 million worldwide are living with brain injury. However, a lack of focus on such brain injuries in health care means the scale of the problem is underestimated, experts say.  

The online course enabled qualified nurses around the world to develop the missing integrated brain, body and mind specialist skills urgently needed in neurological rehabilitation. A particular emphasis was placed on assisting the rehabilitation of people 18 to 40 years old – a relatively neglected area in existing teaching programmes.

The partnership provided 30 fully funded places on the course. 

Watch the video introduction to Neurological Rehabilitation and Care Online PG Certificate:

 

Andrea, a cohort of the PG Certificate, won an RCN Foundation Impact Award for outstanding achievement in Advanced Practice in neurological rehabilitation and care.

An Acute Outreach Sister at the Princess Royal Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Sheffield, Andrea has devoted over three decades to shaping the field of spinal cord injury (SCI) nursing. In 2022, she enrolled in the course which enriched her expertise and deepened her knowledge of person-centred care and neurological rehabilitation.