Standard Precautions / Personal Protective Equipment

‘Standard precautions [formerly called universal precautions] are meant to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens from both recognized and unrecognized sources. They are the basic level of infection control precautions which are used in the care of all patients’ (WHO 2007).

The aim of this module is to facilitate learning regarding the reasons for standard precautions and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in healthcare.

Clinical Skills

• Carole Loveridge (Lecturer in Women’s Health)

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Collaborative Work using Google Docs

Google Docs is a collaborative workspace which is already being used within the medic elearning team whilst writing documentation requiring frequent input from two or more contributors. If you are not already familiar with Google Docs, it is another cloud-based web service which allows files/documents to be created and edited in real-time by multiple authors. Google Docs allows creation of documents as:

• Text
• Spreadsheets
• Presentations
• Drawings
• Forms
• Tables

The service is useful for the creation of dynamic content such as forms and surveys, useful for quick questionnaires should the need arise. Google Calendar is a useful feature for sharing an event or establishing availability without the need for extra effort in 'chasing' people up.

Once you have created your document, you can invite people to view/edit it via email.

Sign up to Google Docs now, or
Try without signing up

Sharing Files using Dropbox

In addition to email, you can now share files with the medic e-learning team via Dropbox. Dropbox is a cloud-based file sharing service which allows two computers to edit and share content using dedicated space on Dropbox. This means that there is no need to manually upload or download a latest copy of whatever file you have been working on with someone. Share your files now with medic e-learning.

Instructions:

1. Install Dropbox on the computers and/or mobile devices you use
2. Put files in your Dropbox folder
3. Share your folder with others

Pros:

• Automatic synchronise
• Un-delete option
• Revert to old copy
• Share files with two or more users
• Install on mobile devices

Cons:

• Limited storage
• Registration required

Clinical Skills Modules

The Clinical Skills component of the curriculum, at present, makes most use of the School's e-learning provision. The focus on practical procedures has been successfully aided by the addition of accompanying self-directed  learning modules, for study prior to attending practical sessions, and in the lead-up to OSCE examinations.

Click on a thumbnail image to launch a module.
(PowerPoint source availability to be announced).

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Airway Management	Arterial Puncture	Basic Ward Monitoring	Blood Cultures
Blood Glucose Monitoring & Sliding Scale	Blood Pressure & Basic Physical Signs	BMI	Drug Calculation
ECG Recording	Female Catheterisation
Hand Hygiene	Handwashing, Gloving & Gowning	IV Drug Administration	IV Fluids & Pump Setup
Lumbar Puncture	Male Catheterisation	Nose, Throat & Skin Swabs	Clinical Waste Management
Pregnancy Testing	Personal Protective Equipment	Rinne's & Weber's	Safe Injection Administration
Safe Prescription Writing	Dealing With Sharps Injuries	Shock	Suturing
Urinalysis	Venepuncture	Venous Cannulation	Wound Assessment

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What is CORTEX?

Cardiff University School of Medicine
The School of Medicine is one of the largest Schools within Cardiff University, featuring numerous postgraduate courses and the largest undergraduate course in the University.

The undergraduate curriculum now has over 1500 students taught over two main campuses, and numerous clinical locations. To address many of the logistical problems associated with large student numbers and the pseudo-distance learning nature of the course, the current undergraduate curriculum is evolving to make increasing use of technology to deliver educational experiences and resources to students.

CORTEX and the C21 Project
In conjunction with the evolution of the current curriculum, the School is developing a new curriculum to go-live in Septbember 2013 for the new first year in-take. The new curriculum will be developed with technology as a much more integrated part of the curriculum and pedagogy from the off. This programme is know as the C21 project.

To facilitate the appropriate uptake of technology within both curricula the School of Medicine eLearning Team are running the CORTEX project. The CORTEX project aims to provide web-based resources to staff to enable them to select and implement technology appropriate for their teaching. The project is a corner stone of the eLearning Strategy, which aims to enable and empower staff to implement as much eLearning as necessary with as little direct involvement from the eLearning Team as possible. This prevents the eLearning Team from becoming a bottle neck, and allows the eLearning Team to focus on areas such as infrastructure, specialist technical developments, and quality assurance.

While the main focus for the project is to support the undergraduate curriculum, the School of Medicine also delivers numerous postgraduate, distance learning courses, which also make heavy use of eLearning. Many staff supporting these courses are also struggling with the adoption of technology, and so the planned CORTEX website will be developed in conjunction with PGT to ensure we cater for the School’s overall eLearning requirements as far as possible.

Wider Collaboration
A similar degree of collaboration is also required with University Learning and Teaching Support team, to ensure that we are well aligned with the University’s Technology Enhanced Education strategy, and that the resources we produce are as widely applicable across the University as possible.

FY & SCP Modules

The modules listed below have been developed as part of final year or senior clinical projects.
Click on a thumbnail image to launch a module.
(Please note: PowerPoint source files are not available for these modules).

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Abdominal Examination	Acute Pancreatitis	Cardiovascular Examination	Emergency Oxygen Therapy
Head Injury	Pre-Eclampsia	Respiratory Examination	Systemic Hypertension
Valvular Heart Disease	Addiction

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CORTEX Self-Directed Learning

CORTEX will gradually catalogue all existing self-paced and virtual patient modules. Existing modules and tutorials are currently located within Cardiff Learning Central and linked to within specific year groups and enrolled programmes of study. CORTEX intends to make these more widely available and searchable by their keywords within this site, for example, specific learning objectives or subject areas. The e-learning team welcome all comments and opinions on this activity.

Clinical Skills Self-directed Resources

The Clinical Skills Centre is now located on the third floor of the Cochrane Building and is managed by Sian Williams. An expansive directory of self-directed tutorials exist for the Centre and can be found by logging in to Learning Central via the Clinical Skills section, or via the Clinical Skills microsite.

Learning Central (Blackboard)

Access to Blackboard is via http://cue.cf.ac.uk. To login to Blackboard simply use your Cardiff University username and password.

Note: Being able to log into Blackboard does not mean you have been granted permission to see any of the content modules within Blackboard. Refer to the information below for advice on how to get access to the modules you think you should be able to see.

Enrollment on Blackboard Modules

Student Enrollments
Student enrollments are handled via the University’s student management system, SIMS. SIMS is used by Registry to track all student data, including the courses and modules they are enrolled on and their status on that course (including information about tuition fees). If students do not have access to their appropriate modules, the first point of contact should be Registry to check the student details within SIMS.

Staff Enrollments
Staff access to the School of Medicine’s Blackboard modules can be granted by the School’s local Blackboard administrators.

To request access to a module, please email the medic IT team with full details of the module you require access to (including the full module code and module title) along with your Cardiff University username.

Please note we cannot provide access to another School’s modules – this must be done by their local Blackboard administrator.

Access for NHS Staff

Access for External Examiners
External examiners are entitled to access Blackboard, and will need a Cardiff University user name and password to do so. Under normal circumstances Registry will arrange login details for all external examiners.

To request access to specific Blackboard modules, use the procedure outlined above Staff Enrolments, providing the IT Team with the examiner’s user name.

In the event the examiner has not been issued with a user name and password by Registry, you should email medicIT@cardiff.ac.uk and explain that you require access for an examiner who has not received a user name and password. You should provide the name and contact details for the external examiner as well as details of the Blackboard modules they will require access to. The School’s IT Team will issue a user name and password and enrol the new account on the appropriate Blackboard modules.

Note: external examiners will only be granted student-level access to Blackboard modules unless further access is expressly requested by the module leader.
Temporary Accounts

The eLearning Team have a number of temporary accounts available that can can be loaned out to other members of staff to use as test accounts. This may be particularly useful if you need to review a Blackboard module (and activities) from a student’s perspective. Similarly accounts can be loaned out to guest users on a temporary basis.

To request a temporary account please email the medic e-learning team.