ABC Packs

ABC: Airway, Breathing, Circulation Learning and Teaching Resources

We introduce the ABC series with the Airway Learning and Teaching Resource. Breathing and Circulation will follow later this year. These resources focus on the essential elements of PACU care. They are designed to integrate competency statements together with their underpinning knowledge and skills.

The resources are tailored to meet the needs of the practitioner who is working full time in the PACU. They can be used to orientate the practitioner and to develop knowledge and skills over time. They are not designed as a substitute for formal courses in PACU nursing in Higher Education Institutes, but could be used prior to attending such courses.

They can be used for teaching in a group, or for individual study to supplement bedside teaching in the workplace. We have developed this resource to encourage and develop ongoing learning and teaching in the PACU, to support a dynamic learning and teaching environment within your local unit where everyone learns from each other. We believe that for every trained health care professional, teaching and the passing on your skills is a vital and responsible part of our everyday practice. So too is ongoing self awareness with continued and refresher learning. You are never too experienced not to learn something new.

There is an increasing need to define precisely what we do in practice and incorporate this into competencies which can then be tested. Underpinning this is the need to understand the theory upon which practice is built. This resource is intended to help new practitioners in the PACU to get to grips with theory and skills quickly and to provide a firm base for their ongoing careers.

The resources