Botswana 2007
Theory Update Programme

Kate Woodhead and Lesley Fudge were welcomed to Botswana by Geetha Feringa, the General Secretary of the Nurses Association of Botswana, our hosts for the week. We were able to spend Monday morning visiting a rural clinic in Thamaga and Main Operating Theatre Suite in the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone. Visits to the theatres were made in order to provide real context for the education programmes. After the Opening Session at which we were delighted to receive the good wishes of the Chief Nurse, the Registrar and also the President of the Nurses Association of Botswana (NAB), we welcomed 49 delegates from all around the country.

A theoretical update was delivered over five days focussed on the nurse, the patient and the theatre environment. Some of the knowledge was new to some of the delegates, and not to others, however, each topic was reviewed and discussed at considerable length. We were delighted that the Ministry funded ten delegates to attend the course, as the timing was exactly right for their hospital expansion programme.

There was much enthusiasm to begin a special interest group for theatre nurses, on which this new information can continue to be built and practiced.

NAB will facilitate this new group. It will be a special interest group of the National Nurses Association of Botswana.

The nurses all worked very hard during the week, and as a very lively group
were a delight to teach. The workshops were noisy, but evaluated very well and with the assistance of the NAB staff, the local logistics were also very much easier for us, than in many countries. FoAN is very grateful for the help and support of NAB and for their help with facilitating the programme with us.