Vital skills for all: A multi-disciplinary approach to teaching vital observations incorporating high fidelity simulation

Staff caring for patients in acute hospital settings should have the education and training to ensure that they have the competencies to monitor, measure, interpret and respond promptly and appropriately for the level of care they are providing to the acutely ill patient (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, 2007). This abstract outlines a learning strategy used to develop vital sign observational skills in undergraduate students accessing a multi-professional module. The module is shared by a range of professional groups that include operating department practitioners, midwives, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and nurses from the following branches: learning disability and mental health, child and adult. The module is central to a suite of programmes that have been developed in response to recent changes within the healthcare climate. The drivers for this included such documents as ‘Working Together, Learning Together’ (Department of Health, 2001) which called for a more flexible and adaptive workforce to meet the current demands for quality healthcare.