Professional development and academic satisfaction from a wound programme in Latin America: 10 years of experience
Abstract
Objective:
Latin America had only one Spanish-speaking postgraduate academic programme on managing wounds and ostomies until 2021. Since then, two more programmes have been developed; one in Colombia and another in Mexico. Therefore, studying alumni outcomes becomes highly relevant. We aimed to describe the alumni's professional development and academic satisfaction from a Wound, Ostomy and Burn Therapy postgraduate programme in Mexico City, Mexico.
Method:
An electronic survey was sent to all alumni from January–July 2019 from the School of Nursing of Universidad Panamericana. Employability, academic development and satisfaction following completion of the academic programme were evaluated.
Results:
From 88 respondents, 77 of whom were nurses, 86 (97.7%) answered that they were working, and 86.4% were working in an area related to the studied programme. Regarding general satisfaction, 88% were totally satisfied/satisfied with the programme and 93.2% would recommend it.
Conclusion:
Alumni from the Wound, Ostomy and Burn Therapy postgraduate programme are satisfied with the academic curriculum and have good professional development, demonstrated by a high employment rate.
Globally, hard-to-heal (chronic) wounds are a public health problem that directly impacts the quality of life of those affected and their families;1,2 the estimated prevalence worldwide is 2.21 per 1000.3 The management of hard-to-heal wounds has become a challenge for health professionals, and one way to face it is to provide adequate training in this area.4
Lack of instruction and standardisation in wound management during undergraduate health-related programmes are a reality worldwide.5,6,7 In developed countries, a study performed among nurses reported that 57.7% considered that they had moderate knowledge about dealing with hard-to-heal wounds, and 90% reported variability of criteria in wound care; most of them attributed it to a deficiency in training.5 Evidence regarding pressure ulcers shows that only 8.9% of nurses passed a treatment-related exam with a score ≥ 60% for knowledge.6 Also, less than half of nursing staff in Europe have been shown to have received specific and complementary training in wound care, less than one-third (32%) had attended post-basic education courses in this area.7
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