The impact of nursing skill-mix on adverse events in intensive care: a single centre cohort study.

Background: The highly complex and technological environment of critical care manages the most critically unwell patients in the hospital system, as such there is a need for a highly trained nursing workforce. Intensive care is considered a high-risk area for errors and adverse events (AE) due to the severity of illness and number of procedures performed.

Objective: To investigate if the percentage of Critical Care Registered Nurses (CCRN) within an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is associated with an increased risk of patients experiencing an AE.

A Springboard for physicians returning to practice.

Background: Many physicians take time out of training and have decreased confidence and poor performance ratings on their return. Courses employing multiple educational methods have been shown to be effective in easing learners into new clinical roles during transition periods but, to date, there is limited evidence for courses to support trainees returning to practice (RTP).

Methods: A 2-day course, named Springboard, was developed, specifically to address the needs of trainee physicians RTP.

Trials and tribulations of the annual review of competence progression - lessons learned from core medical training in London.

The annual review of competence progression (ARCP) was introduced as a way of keeping records and reviewing satisfactory progress through a medical curriculum for doctors in training. It provides public assurance that doctors are trained to a satisfactory standard and are fit for purpose. A routine external review of the core medical training (CMT) ARCPs in London revealed documentation of satisfactory progression of trainees to the next level of training without the evidence to support their completion of the curriculum.

Where did the acute medical trainees go? A review of the career pathways of acute care common stem acute medical trainees in London.

Acute care common stem acute medicine (ACCS AM) training was designed to develop competent multi-skilled acute physicians to manage patients with multimorbidity from 'door to discharge' in an era of increasing acute hospital admissions. Recent surveys by the Royal College of Physicians have suggested that acute medical specialties are proving less attractive to trainees. However, data on the career pathways taken by trainees completing core acute medical training has been lacking.