Posted 03 August 2021 - 17:16
Posted 03 August 2021 - 17:16
News
Nursing in the Paralympics: the team finally heading to Tokyo after a year’s delay
Group will fly out to support ParalympicsGB athletes following exhaustive preparations
Group with expertise in areas including spinal cord, and bladder and bowel care will support ParalympicsGB athletes after exhaustive preparations and a 12-month wait
A team of UK nurses is making final preparations to head to Tokyo to support athletes at the Paralympic games.
The five are part of the ParalympicsGB sport and medicine team, and are going through a last round of COVID-19 tests ahead of the games, which finally start on 24 August following a year’s delay.
Preparation and red-flag scenarios
Lead nurse Kim Brinkworth, a burns, plastics and reconstructive surgery senior staff nurse at Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in East Grinstead, West Sussex, said preparation for the event included running through various scenarios that could affect ‘red-flag athletes’ who have health conditions that may require extra support.
‘There’s a lot of guilt among the team about leaving at a time when our regular work is becoming stressful again. But it’s a chance of a lifetime for the Paralympians and we are their support network’
Kim Brinkworth, lead nurse for ParalympicsGB
‘Dressings, continence, bladder and bowel aids were all ordered early last year and had arrived in Japan just before the lockdown was announced, so they’ve been waiting for us,’ she added.
‘We’ve been making sure that’s all remained in date and upping supplies where necessary.’
Guilt about leaving colleagues during the pandemic
Most of the nurses will be taking annual leave, supported by their employers, in order to attend the games.
While Ms Brinkworth said the team was thrilled to be heading to Tokyo, she admitted there were concerns about leaving colleagues during the pandemic.
‘There’s a lot of guilt among the team about leaving at a time when our regular work is becoming stressful and under pressure again,’ she said.
But she added the nurses were determined not to let the athletes down.
‘For the Paralympians it’s a chance of a lifetime and they have been training for a long time to get to this point,’ she said. ‘They can’t necessarily do what they have to do without their support network and we are that network.’
How to get involved in large-scale disability sporting events
- Start with a local disability sport and see if you can volunteer to help
- Skills in spinal injury, bladder and bowel care are highly valued
- Keep an eye out for calls for nurses to sign up to the games two years before the event
Source: Kim Brinkworth
Paralympics nursing draws on whole spectrum of nursing expertise
Ms Brinkworth, who will be attending her fourth Paralympics, said the team’s role at the games demonstrated the sheer diversity of nursing skills and expertise.
‘You’re responsible for taking on-the-spot decisions regarding safety, manual handling, infection control, diet and nutrition, skin care,’ she said. ‘You could be assisting someone with personal care in the morning and the next minute you could be accompanying someone who’s had a stroke to a foreign hospital.’
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