A curriculum to ensure nursing staff competency

Nurses and healthcare assistants (HCAs) involved in tissue viability are expected to be competent, but there is little agreement over how to define competence or the expertise required by people filling different roles. Most training in England is provided in house by tissue viability nurses or interested non-specialists; England is lagging behind Scotland and Wales in terms of learning materials and other resources. Staff members at a strategic health authority were surveyed so a consensus could be reached over a basic curriculum for tissue viability and the competence expected of nurses and HCAs at different levels of seniority. Respondents agreed that five topics should be covered by both nurses and HCAs: wound healing; leg ulceration; pressure ulceration; diabetic foot; and skin care. Levels of expertise and competence would depend on seniority. The curriculum provides a checklist that local tissue viability nurses can use as a basis for training colleagues. Trusts and educational providers should set a curriculum for tissue viability and standards of competence.