We celebrate welcoming the first two interns from Worcester Hospital to the Children's Nursing Development Unit and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH) as part of the ‘Strengthening burns care for children in the Western Cape’ project.  This aspect of the developing burns training programme is intended to give health care professionals from the Cape Winelands region the opportunity to observe burns care practice in the dedicated burns service; to learn from each other about the system of care for these children; and to deepen collegial relationships between the clinical sites.

Sr. Elretha Esterhuyse and Mr. Roland Kriege spent 2 weeks from 18^th – 29^th  November 2024 with the nursing teams in the burns ward, emergency department outpatient’s department and in the dedicated theatre. They also engaged with wider members of the multidisciplinary team (surgeons, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers) involved in the management of children with a burn injury. Mr Kriege commented on how impressed he was at the dedication of the Red Cross burns team. A visit to the ChildSafe team also gave them practical tips on how to advise about burn injury prevention in the home.

The interns benefitted from observing and being hands on, gaining wound dressing skills and improved knowledge on different types of wound dressings to promote healing. They observed the benefits of a first aid burns trolley, an idea they plan to implement in their emergency unit. 

Both Sr. Esterhuyse and Mr. Kriege describe their enjoyment of the experience and how they are returning to Worcester Hospital with new knowledge, skills and insights to apply to their own practice.

We look forward to hosting four more pairs of interns as part of the ongoing burns project in 2025.