Latest News

Our health and social care students here at Heart of Worcestershire College (HoW College) have recently taken part in a simulation for infection prevention as part of their course. 

As the students have not had the opportunity to go on their placement due to the pandemic, Niki McGowan, Lecturer in health and social care, took the decision to create her own simulation for infection prevention for the students. Unit 9 of their course covers infection prevention and control, so this was the perfect opportunity for the students to get involved and experience incidences that they may encounter within their roles in health care. 

There were four stations created, clinical observations, hospital bed, food preparation and norovirus outbreak. During this simulation the learners had to select an appropriate policy and procedure to follow to ensure they had controlled the infection and prevented it from spreading, they also adorned their personal protective equipment (PPE) and had a selection of products that they could use to help them with their tasks. 

When speaking about the students and how they worked with this, Niki said: 

“This task was a great opportunity for me to use the compete strategy and to assess out of my learners who showed the greatest professionalism, handed the organisation of the task well and worked in a team effectively. One learner in particular stood out from the rest, and this is a learner called Dan Cooper, Dan has been with us since level 2, and it has been an honour to watch him grow and reach this point of his professionalism. Well done Dan, keep it up.  

I also awarded three other learners for their contributions, Mya Darling for team working, Issy Raines and Tia bullock again for taking the lead and not being phased by any of the situations. 

I am so proud of my level 3 year 2 learners and how they have coped in the face of adversity and I will be proud to send them off into the world to fulfill their ambitions as health care professionals.” 

We also spoke to Tia Bullock, a learner in health and social care, who stated: 

“Last week, me and my class had a practical lesson heading towards unit 9 task 2. We had a clinic station, dead individual bed in hospital and human body fluid left behind babies with bad sickness and dealing with food. It was a good lesson that I enjoyed a lot; it gets you thinking about what you will have to do in the future. " 

We want to say a massive well done to all our health and social students that took part in this and wish you all the best of luck for your course and your future in health and social care! 

For more information on our health and social care courses, visit www.howcollege.ac.uk.