Expand+This new course is the latest addition to the UCD Diagnostic Imaging professional training portfolio. It has been designed specifically for health and social care professionals with the relevant skills and knowledge that will enable them to understan...

Hide-This new course is the latest addition to the UCD Diagnostic Imaging professional training portfolio. It has been designed specifically for health and social care professionals with the relevant skills and knowledge that will enable them to understand the varied presentations of non-accidental injury. This programme delivers a combination of teaching and learning methods to suit full-time professional practitioners.

Course features:
Knowledge and Understanding
Demonstrate a detailed professional knowledge from a professional’s perspective of their role relating to Non Accidental Injury in paediatric patients.

Debate current research and practice within a forensic setting, highlighting the value of each professional’s contribution.

Demonstrate detailed knowledge of the roles of other professionals and the impact this may have on the radiographer when imaging paediatric patients with suspected Non Accidental Injury.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding:
Demonstrate a detailed professional knowledge from a professional’s perspective of the legal concepts and processes that underpin factors associated with Non Accidental Injury.

Apply current research and practice within a forensic setting in relation to paediatric examination and care.

Demonstrate an ability to recognise the psychological and physical capabilities of patients presenting with suspected Non Accidental Injuries and the importance of appropriate response strategies to their individual needs.

Making Judgments:
Critically reflect upon their own current practice and their role in a forensic setting.

Critically evaluate their ability to handle multifaceted issues in which judgments are made whilst reflecting upon the wider professional issues and the responsibilities of their role as a professional within this area.

Communication and Writing Skills:
Develop professional competencies by integrating clinical skills with theoretical clinical knowledge to enhance their applied research and communication skills within the topic area and the material explored.

Demonstrate an ability to source and critically analyse relevant literature.

Who Should Take This Course?
This course is designed for health, social care professionals and gardai working in the area of NAI. Students will be expected to be autonomous reflective practitioners and as such work with the material in a mature and evaluative way. This will be tested via the essay assignment at the end of the semester.

Course description
This 5 credit module leads to a Professional Certificate in Non Accidental injury.

It will cover the fundamental aspects of the multi-disciplinary ethos that surrounds child abuse cases. The course aims to equip health and social care professionals with the relevant skills and knowledge that will enable them to understand the varied presentations of non-accidental injury. They will also develop specialised knowledge and understanding of the legal system and their role within it. Topics studied include: roles and responsibilities of the multi-disciplinary team: radiographers, gardai and pathologists alongside legal issues and professional responsibility. It is designed to provide both theoretical and practical training, with a significant emphasis on clinical experience. Professionals involved in imaging a child with suspected Non Accidental Injuries require a specialist skill set together with effective communication skills in order to work in the interdisciplinary team in such a way so as to promote the best interests of the child.

At present, no course of this kind is available in Ireland. Lectures covering the theoretical components will predominately be delivered on line, with a single training day delivered at the commencement of the course. Participants will gain the majority of their experience in their own workplace, which will allow them to negotiate the most suitable arrangements.

The subject areas to be covered are: professional responsibilities, legal and professional frameworks that practitioners work within, various presentations of paediatric Non Accidental Injury, trauma, medical and social investigations including continuity of evidence, forensic principles for imaging paediatrics with suspected Non Accidental Injuries, types of evidence including evidential requirements and in depth discussions on understanding the limits of professional roles, responsibilities, competence and the need to seek advice/refer when appropriate.

5 credit module in Non-Accidental Injury.
Throughout these modules students will profit from a blended learning approach integrating class discussions, lecture attendance, student presentations, image appraisal tutorials, practical tasks, e-Learning activities together with self-directed learning. The teaching and learning strategies are designed to encourage autonomous reflective practitioners who can further develop their personal and professional skills within a supportive framework.