WHOCC UTS team member Ms Lisa Townsend and VCNE Educator Clelia Raupépé Keimol.
The Vanuatu Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Vanuatu College of Nursing Education (VCNE), with support from the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), are continuing to work with a team of education experts from the WHO Collaborating Centre at the University of Technology Sydney (WHO CC UTS) to develop and upgrade the national nursing curriculum for accreditation and implementation in line with the Government National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) 2016 - 2030. The team is implementing a Bachelor of Nursing (Conversion).
The team from WHO CC UTS is working with MoH staff and stakeholders to facilitate the development and implementation of both the Bachelor of Nursing (Conversion) BN (Conv) in 2019, building on an already completed Diploma of Nursing, and the proposed three year Bachelor of Nursing degree to be implemented from 2021.
Fourteen male and female participants who are a mixture of educators and clinicians, began the Bachelor of Nursing (Conversion) in March 2019 and are now half way through their course subject requirements.
In-Country Activities
UTS WHO CC staff members Ms Lisa Townsend and Dr Caroline Havery (UTS Interactive Media and Learning – Language and Learning Senior Lecturer) were in country for six days, from 14-20 July 2019.
Vanuatu BN Curriculum Development Steering Committee Members Roger Jerpau, Jerrol Joseph, John Tasserei, Evelyne Emile, Leipakoa Matariki, Juliann Arcu, Bertha Tarileo and Dr Caroline Havery and Lisa Townsend from WHO CC UTS
During this week of engagement, each student in the BN (Conv) had a face-to-face appointment with UTS staff, in which they received formative feedback on their draft submission of the final assignment for the subject ‘Improving Teaching and Learning’. This process provided opportunities for students to further refine ideas and strengthen academic writing within their papers, and also modelled a teaching and learning technique they could use with future students. Within these meetings, insights and discussions regarding educational content and approaches were documented that will inform Bachelor of Nursing curriculum development. Importantly, a discussion of wider processes, strengths and challenges identified within these meetings will also assist in developing the priorities and themes within the curriculum.
Evaluations of learning from participants this week have indicated high satisfaction and learning within the subject, and the BN (Conv) program so far, and they have identified many ways in which content can be applied to their contexts, both in clinical and educational specialties.
‘Improving Teaching and Learning’ Participant – VCNE Educator Rodney Tabi
Further meetings were held with external collaborators and stakeholders. In a meeting with representatives from VCNE, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (ICMI) and UNICEF, discussion was held around embedding the content and processes of IMCI framework into the paediatric components of the proposed Bachelor of Nursing program. Further discussions were held in regard to other key priority areas within nursing, including immunisation, family planning, therapeutic communication and maternity care. Another meeting with VCNE midwifery staff further strengthened understanding between the different streams of the program which has promoted consistency and clear scaffolding within the educational processes.
Meeting of the Steering Committee
A Steering Committee meeting was held in North Efate on Wednesday 17 July, with many participants taking time out of the Vanuatu Nurse Leaders Forum to participate. Updates were provided in regard to the progress of the BN (Conv), the order of the draft Bachelor of Nursing subjects were revisited and confirmed, and individual component descriptors within the drafted BN were assessed in detail. Members provided valuable feedback and this new information will inform the next iteration of the documents. Component descriptors will be recirculated in their new draft form for further review and consultation in the coming months.
Future meetings and appointments have been planned, including joint meetings between UNICEF and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representatives in Port Vila, and a meeting with staff from the Pacific Open Learning Health Network (POLHN) in August during our next visits. Monitoring and Evaluation interviews will also be carried out, with meetings to discuss the impact of change from the Vanuatu Health Resource Mechanism (VHRM) to the Vanuatu Health Program (VHP) and management of the project from 14th October 2019. This is of particular importance as this work relies on continued collaboration between stakeholders, participants and project staff to ensure project sustainability, to build staff capacity in preparation of the Bachelor of Nursing curriculum.
VCNE Educator Sally Sale
Discussions with participants and stakeholders in Vanuatu continue to confirm a clear request for ongoing support and consultation in the preparation of teaching materials in 2020, and further capacity building of teaching staff, which will be built into the proposed Phase 3 of the project. Additionally, Ni-Vanuatu clinicians and educators have requested that WHO CC UTS staff conduct an additional BN (Conv) course next year (2020) to further build capacity in nurses who will be supporting BN students in the future.
This visit was the fifth of a series of in-country visits planned in 2019 for provision of technical support by the WHO CC UTS Team to strengthen the quality of nursing education in Vanuatu.