Overview

This course has been designed to support registered healthcare practitioners as they develop the skills needed to work as an Anaesthetic Practitioner. It has been built with adherence to all relevant professional curricula (BARNA, PCC, CODP, AfPP) and has been previously accredited by RCN.

Throughout the course, students will explore the role through various chapters, combining theoretical knowledge with hands-on experience in an anaesthetic setting under the guidance of an anaesthetic practitioner. They will also complete a clinical practice portfolio and a timed online multiple choice questionnaire.

Course Aims

This course aims to:

• Establish a robust academic foundation to support registered healthcare practitioners in their roles as Anaesthetic Practitioners within the operating theatre, involving support for Anaesthetists and Anaesthetic Associates.
• Enhance an existing professional practice syllabus by offering students a comprehensive exploration of various professional subject areas. This includes delving into the historical evolution of the role, ethical and legal considerations pertinent to anaesthetic practice, an in-depth understanding of anesthesia and its different types, the surgical patient's journey, ensuring patient safety during anesthesia administration, addressing issues like accidental awareness under anesthesia, handling emergencies in anesthesia, and addressing the unique considerations in special patient groups, such as obstetrics.
• Foster an appreciation for and understanding of the dynamics within healthcare teams, intricate systems, and the core principles underpinning safe professional practice within the context of contemporary anaesthetic care.

Who this course is for

This course is aimed at registered non-medical practitioners actively working in operating theatres. These could be nurses aspiring to transition into the role of anaesthetic practitioner, as well as operating department practitioners seeking to either refresh their skills or acquire a postgraduate certificate in this field. Other HCPC-registrants (e.g. physiotherapists) may also be interested in completing this course, provided they can actively practice in the role throughout the six-month learning period.

Course content

The course will cover the following topics:

• Who is the anaesthetic practitioner
• The surgical patient journey
• Overview of anaesthesia
• Safety of the patient undergoing anaesthesia
• Respiration and anaesthesia
• Cardiovascular anatomy and physiology
• Anaesthesia equipment
• Regional anaesthesia
• General anaesthesia
• Accidental awareness under anaesthesia
• Pain pathways and pharmacology
• Special patient groups
• Anaesthetic emergencies
• Ethical and legal considerations for the anaesthetic practitioner

Teaching and Structure

This flexible course is delivered through online materials that learners can access at their convenience within the course's timeframe. Learners will have the option to participate in thirteen live sessions designed to provide additional support and clarification on the course materials. Weekly drop-in sessions will also be available, providing opportunities for interaction with course tutors.

To successfully complete the course and the clinical practice portfolio, learners must work under constant direct supervision in the role, benefiting from work-based learning and mentorship, ensuring practical application of their knowledge in clinical settings.

Assessment

The assessment is made up of the following:

• Forum exercise (formative)
• Portfolio (40% of final mark): All competencies must be signed off at a minimum of EPA level 4. Students must pass this component to complete the course.
• Online timed Multiple Choice (MCQ) and Single Best Answer (SBA) Questionnaire (60% of final mark): Students must undertake an online combination of MCQ (50 questions in 50 minutes) and an SBA exam (6 questions in 10 minutes).

The pass mark for all the combined assessments is 50% or higher and students must pass the portfolio assessment.

Entry requirements

Applicants must:

• Hold active registration with the NMC or HCPC.
• Maintain current employment or an agreed placement in the operating theatres, with support from their manager.
• Work alongside appropriately qualified and experienced members of staff who will sign them off on the competencies (EPAs).

Specific required placement areas include: Trauma/emergencies, Paediatrics, Obstetrics, Shared Airway

All applicants must be able to present a valid proof of identity and right to study in the UK. 

Those who are not UK nationals (or nationals of a UK Home Office mjaority English-speaking country) must also be able to demonstrate they meet UCL's English language requirements.

Credits and CPD

This course carries 15 academic credits (at level 7) which can be accredited towards the UCL PG Cert in Perioperative Medicine Theatre Practice route. In order to complete the PG Cert, you will need to complete three other 15-credits modules. For more information please contact dsis.pgcerttp@ucl.ac.uk or the course lead (carolina.britton@ucl.ac.uk).

For the purposes of professional revalidation, this course corresponds to 150 hours of CPD.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course you will be able to:

1. Examine challenges involved with gathering evidence in perioperative medicine and evaluate how evidence-based medicine (EBM) may help us to implement useful findings into anaesthetic care of patients
2. Incorporate knowledge about Patient Safety principles, Five Steps for Safer Surgery, Just Culture, Never Events and Human Factors into anaesthetic practitioner practice, to help improve patient safety.
3. Demonstrate working knowledge ABCDE assessment in anaesthesia, as well as of intubation techniques, the anaesthetic machine, and equipment for monitoring, patient positioning and supplementary 
4. Describe the anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system and discuss the ways in which anaesthesia and surgery affect the circulatory system 
5. Determine when and why we use regional anaesthesia, its advantages and disadvantages, and the key differences between regional and general anaesthesia.
6. Apply knowledge in assisting the anaesthetist during the care of the adult patient, the paediatric patient, the obstetric patient, the trauma patient and the patient undergoing shared-airway surgery.
7. Explain risk management in the anaesthetic environment and transfer of the critically ill patient and distinguish different emergencies or crisis in anaesthesia (laryngospasm and stridor; malignant hyperthermia; anaphylaxis; local anaesthetic toxicity; major blood loss)
8. Differentiate types of consent while appraising the importance of patients' consent and integrate knowledge of Jehovah's Witnesses in the perioperative context, organ donation and DNA CPR to fulfil best practice as an AP caring for patients in a dignified and respectful manner.   
9. Explain the principles of safety and security of controlled drugs stored and used in anaesthesia, in accordance with legislation and local guidelines.

Preparation

Before enrolling on the course, learners need to ensure that they have support from their manager to work in supernumerary capacity and suitable supervisor(s) for practice learning for the duration of the programme. Learners will also need to ensure that they will have the opportunity to work ‘anaesthetics shifts’ in the obstetrics theatre, trauma theatre, paediatric theatre and shared airway theatre. To discuss any limitations to these requirements, please contact the course team.

Further information

This course is part of a UCL postgraduate programme – the Postgraduate Certificate (PG Cert) in Perioperative Medicine Theatre Practice. Students completing this course can enter their 15 academic credits towards completion of the PG programme, and complete three other modules.

The remaining modules on the PG programme include:

• Landscape of Perioperative Care (15 credits, level 7, core mandatory module)
• Quality, Safety and Leadership in Perioperative Care (15 credits, level 7, core mandatory module)
• The Professional Assistant in Anaesthesia (15 credits, level 7, optional module)
• Enhanced Recovery Room Care (15 credits, level 7, optional module)
• Postoperative Care of the High-Risk Patient (15 credits, level 7, optional module)

For more information please contact dsis.pgcerttp@ucl.ac.uk or the course lead (carolina.britton@ucl.ac.uk).

Course team

Carolina Britton SFHEA MFPCEd MEd MSc RN

Carolina graduated in Nursing in 2004 and completed her PG Cert in Surgical Care Practice and the MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice in 2014. She then graduated from Imperial College London with an MEd in Surgical Education and is currently studying for a PhD at UCL. She has participated in numerous missions abroad, bringing cardiac surgery to children in low-income countries, and teaching local teams. She is currently Postgraduate Education Lead for a very large surgery department. She is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Perioperative Practice and a member of the Faculty of Perioperative Practice with the Royal College of Surgeons. She is interested in education in/for Perioperative Practice, leadership development and in research, and she has designed a number of postgraduate and CPD teaching programmes in the UK and internationally.

Nicola Stroud BA(Hons) BSc(Hons) MSc(Oxon)

Nicola has always enjoyed learning, so she explored various academic interests before eventually completing her DipHE in Operating Department Practice in 2011. She then joined a busy Orthopaedic department doing Anaesthetics and Scrub. She specialised in Anaesthetics in 2016 when she moved to a major trauma centre. She oversees a number of education projects within perioperative care and has recently completed an MA in Digital Education. Her interests include technology-enhanced learning, Human Factors, Resus, and pharmacology

Jasper Ballecer BSc PgDip MIH

Jasper is the Senior Nurse for Theatres Education at University College London Hospitals. He qualified as a nurse in 2011 after finishing his nursing degree with honours from St. Paul University Manila. He completed his Postgraduate Diploma in International Health in 2014 and his Master’s degree in the same field, with a specialisation track in Health Promotion, in 2016 from the University of the Philippines. He started his career in community maternity for the first two years after qualifying and has worked extensively thereafter in the operating theatres, across multiple specialties: general surgery, ophthalmics, plastics, ENT and Head & Neck Surgery, and Maxillo-facial Surgery. His interests include education in surgical settings and health promotion and education in different specialty groups.

David Walker BM (Hons) FRCA FRCP PFHEA

David is a professor at UCL working in the Centre for Perioperative Medicine, where he runs a number of educational programmes, courses, and research activities. He practices clinically as a Critical Care and Perioperative Medicine Consultant, with an interest in the high-risk surgical patient. He has worked nationally and internationally on Perioperative Care curricula and runs a large fellowship perioperative medicine programme at University College Hospital.

Course information last modified: 9 Oct 2024, 16:50