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Nursing schools

Enrichment of nursing topics

Using visual material and practical training supported by enthusiastic North-South cooperation
Impact: praktijklessen vroedkunde en reanimatie bij drie verplegerscholen en officieel partneriaat met UCLL Vroedkunde (België)

Objectieven:

  • Providing IT equipment and practical and tutorial teaching materials via our mobile hub
  • Compiling a large collection of video material to realistically visualise the treatment of various medical topics and supplement the often highly theoretical training with image-based practical teaching
  • Covering all topics in the nursing curriculum for which there is a great need for practical training
  • Establishing a North-South collaboration with specialised institutes and volunteers in the North who can guide and support us in this educational challenge
Example of video material compiled for visual instruction
Video clip of the birth manikin project UCLL and nursing schools in Kisantu

Use of our (extended) mobile educational hub to support teachers and students with the aim of enriching and further developing the curriculum.  The first of the teaching themes to be examined was ‘Wound Care’, for which some 40 books (written by Prof. Ivo De Wever based on his local expertise in Kisantu!) were provided in hard copy, and a digital version of this comprehensive, high-quality reference work was installed on four desktops accessible to nursing students. In addition, a large collection of video material (Global Health Media) was installed to realistically visualise specific nursing care on various themes.

At the end of 2023, an initial educational exchange collaboration was set up with midwifery students from UCLL (Leuven, Belgium) to design a package of video lessons to get started with the birth and resuscitation manikin set donated to us by a Belgian sponsor. This allowed the often highly theoretical training to be supplemented with practical visual aids.

This birthing manikin was then demonstrated in detail by two UCLL midwifery graduates during the mission in November 2024 at three nursing schools in Kisantu (ITMK, ISTM Pro and ISTM Kisantu). This led to the signing of an official partnership agreement at the end of 2024 between UCLL Midwifery and ISTM-Kisantu, the higher nursing education institution in Kisantu that is dependent on the Congolese government. The North-South collaboration in this educational partnership will therefore focus primarily on midwifery and childbirth issues and will be a huge support and stimulus for all three nursing schools. We are also looking for nursing volunteers in the North who are willing to tackle other important topics (such as wound care, resuscitation, hospital hygiene, diabetes, urinary tracts, etc.) on a project basis and who want to “enrich” the subject matter educationally and, above all, convey it in a practical way.

We work hard to ensure that practical lessons continue throughout the school year taught by suitable teachers. Guaranteeing the continuity of this programme is certainly a challenge, but it is a top priority so that our efforts have a lasting effect.