‘ARNI’ arrives in Plymouth

Last week, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust was host to the first Advanced Resuscitation of the Newborn Infant (ARNI) course in the South-West. This new national course has been developed through the Resuscitation Council with the support of BLISS – the parent and baby charity.

The course is aimed at nurses, nurse practitioners and doctors who provide care to sick babies in a hospital setting and pioneers a new approach to multidisciplinary training in the recognition and management of neonatal critical illness, with special emphasis on team working and communication with parents.

Senior doctors and nurses from Manchester, Newcastle, Middlesbrough, London and Brighton joined the local team in providing candidates from across the South-West and elsewhere in the UK the benefit of their skills and knowledge over two days of intense activity.

Dr John Madar, Consultant Neonatologist at Plymouth, who directed this course, is a member of the Resuscitation Council (UK) working group who developed and launched ARNI.

The course builds on the knowledge and skills delivered through the national ‘Newborn Life Support’ (NLS) course. Plymouth is only the fifth centre in the UK to run this course, which is currently rolling out nationally. ARNI course

Dr Madar said: “The success of this course is a tribute to everyone who has helped organise and deliver it. Locally, the administration and technical support has been faultless and I am very fortunate to have the backing and resources of the neonatal unit here in Plymouth.

“ARNI is a valuable opportunity for clinicians to learn from each other, rehearsing how to best manage the sick baby, improve their team working, and to help parents cope with these immensely difficult situations.

“Time is such a precious resource, but those of us who have been developing ARNI and those who have already attended believe that the days spent on this course are of real worth, with genuine potential to improve the delivery of care and ultimately outcomes.”

ARNI courses are now running in other parts of the country – Plymouth will be hosting another course in a few months. Information on ARNI can be obtained from the resuscitation council website: https://www.resus.org.uk/information-on-courses/advanced-resuscitation-o...

Details on BLISS, the parent and baby support charity, can be found at http://www.bliss.org.uk