About the Pan London Critical Care Intravenous Therapy programme

The Pan London Critical Care Intravenous Therapy programme has been developed to deliver standardised teaching on the administration of intravenous (IV) medication in critical care. It will reduce variation in teaching and reduce the need to repeat training for nurses and other healthcare practitioners (HCP).

This elearning delivers the theory component in the overall Pan London Critical Care Intravenous Therapy competency process established in London. Successful completion of these elearning sessions will ensure nurses and HCPs are ready for their practical clinical assessment.

Once all elements of the competency are completed the holder of a Pan London Critical Care Intravenous Therapy competency will be able to administer IV medication without the requirement to repeat the entire assessment process.

Who it’s aimed at

All London-based nurses and HCPs delivering care and IV medications to critically ill and injured patients.

Staff elsewhere in the country should consult their local critical care policies or education team to ensure this elearning package is recognised within local arrangements.

Prerequisites and instructions for learners

Staff need to hold a valid Trust IV / medication competency prior to accessing the Critical Care IV Therapy Programme and a calculations test.

Staff will have completed the IV administration element of the CC3N Steps 1 competency (pages 37-40) thus reducing the burden on training burden on clinical education teams where Steps competencies are used subsequently.

The London Critical Care Education Group agreed the following principles: Competence would be assessed every 2 years, after a medication error or after a longer-term absence (longer than 6 months). There are formative assessments throughout the sessions and a summative final assessment that trainees must pass. The trainee needs to arrange with their clinical mentor or line manager to undertake their practical clinical assessment.

The Critical Care IV Therapy Passport pathway

The pathway to the CCIV passport is comprised of three steps as illustrated below:

Step 1 Access learning

Access the Critical IV Therapy Passport elearning programme on the elfh Hub. The elearning programme is free to access for health care professionals working within NHS organisations, charities, social care and Higher Education Institutions (HEI), and is accessible for other organisations by arrangement.

This elearning programme provides the full curriculum and is the preferred route to access the learning required for the passport.

Learners are required to complete eAssessments via elfh irrespective of the way they access step 1.

Step 2 Assess Knowledge

Assessment of knowledge is via eAssessment on the elfh Hub. This is the standardised gateway to practice learning and assessment.

Step 3 CCIV Practice Learning and Assessment

This Critical Care IV Practice Learning and Assessment Document (CCIV PLAD) for the pathway is composed of a set of competencies relevant to a HCP’s current role.

Download CCIV PLAD for use in practice after completing step 1 and 2.

Course content

The course consists of six knowledge sessions and one e-Assessment:

• Intravenous Vasoactive Medication Sedatives
• Analgesia and Paralysing Agents
• Electrolytes
• Antiarrhythmic Medication – Amiodarone
• Other Important IV Medications
• Communication and Human Factors
• Critical Care IV Therapy e-Assessment

All sessions must be completed, and the e-Assessment passed, before learners can undertake their practice assessment.

More information

Development and support for this work

Work to develop a Pan London Critical Care IV Passport started with the North West London Critical Care Network Clinical Applied Skills Passport (CLASP) project in 2016. The ambition was to collectively reduce:

• Unwarranted variation in standards
• Duplication of effort and resource utilisation
• Clinical time assessing theoretical competence packages
• Standardise skills training and competency sign off for staff looking after critically ill patients across all sites in north west London and across the capital

A Pan London education group was established to review all critical care IV competence document across Trusts in London and develop one competency for critical care IV for London. This was successfully piloted in nine critical care units across London. All critical care nurse educators in London-based Trusts and many stakeholders including (not exhaustive) directors of nursing, governance leads, critical care matrons, pharmacists, lead nurses and medical leads have contributed to the development. In order to assist and accelerate delivery of CLASP right across London, the critical care IV competency has been included in the CapitalNurse work Programme.

Special thanks goes to the following individuals:

• Peachiammal Subramanian, Practice Development Sister, Barts Health NHS Trust
• Christiana Udoh, Critical Care Practice Development Nurse, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Elaine Manderson, Matron – Intensive Care, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Maryke Woest, Clinical Nurse Educator, Adult Intensive Care Unit, Bupa Cromwell Hospital
• Claire Wroe, Clinical Practice Educator, Adult Intensive Care Unit, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
• PanLondon Critical Care Nurse Education Group

How to access

In order to access the Critical Care Intravenous Therapy programme, you will need an elfh account. If you do not have one, then you can register by selecting the Register button below.

Register >

To view the Critical Care Intravenous Therapy programme, select the View button below. If you already have an account with elfh, you will also be able to login and enrol on the programme from the View button.

View >

Not an NHS organisation?

If you are not an NHS health or care organisation and therefore do not qualify for free access elfh Hub, you may be able to access the service by creating an OpenAthens account.

To check whether or not you qualify for free access via OpenAthens, you can view the eligibility criteria and register on the ‘OpenAthens’ portal.

Registering large numbers of users

If you are a HR, IT or Practice Manager and would like to register and enrol large numbers of staff within your organisation for access onto the Critical Care Intravenous Therapy programme, please contact elfh directly.

Organisations wishing to use their own LMS

For HR departments wanting to know more about gaining access to courses using an existing Learning Management System please contact elfh directly to express interest.

More information

Please select the following link for more information on how to use the elfh Hub.