BACCN Supports Critical Care Nursing Internationally
10th Nov 2025
Birmingham City University would like to take this opportunity to thank BACCN for their ongoing support for our partnership work in Zambia. The University’s Centre for International Health Partnerships has been working with the Ministry of Health in Zambia for over a decade now. The main focus has been on capacity strengthening to improve critical care, trauma and emergency nursing. However, as our projects have evolved our work has started to focus on the ongoing nursing care of the critically ill. In this news piece, we want to showcase and highlight some of the key activities and impact our work has had in creating an international community of practice.
In low-income countries such as Zambia, critical care survival is increasing, however, it is a cause for concern that rehabilitation is often limited, with ICU Survivors being hidden in plain sight. In consequence, there is urgent need to develop rehabilitation services to support ICU Survivors, our Recovery for Intensive Care Survivors Engagement (RISE) project is one of the first research studies in this field conducted in Zambia. It will contribute to improved patient care, with the findings being used to develop resources for healthcare professionals and patients from critical care to home. The project fits within a wider programme, using advocacy to raise the issue and profile of rehabilitation. These activities have included inviting ICU survivors to present at national conferences and national news items.
In 2021, as part of a UKRI / Newton Research project, it was identified that critically ill patients were losing weight during their admission to critical care. This was partly due the lack of availability of commercial nutritional support, reliance on family members providing food and/or use of nutritional supplements which were not designed for critical illness. To address this, working with an international team a low-cost, highly sustainable enteral nutrition feeding regimen was developed and evaluated. This project has continued and today is a key component of service delivery for patients in critical care and those discharged to the ward. To support this project, a Just Giving Page has been set up by the University, to support the ongoing costs of this project https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/bcunutritionincriticalcare
In 2022, through a BACCN membership grant we were able to support the establishment of the Critical Care Nurses Association of Zambia (CCNAZ). Activities have included developing a national position paper on safe staffing in critical care. In addition, a national critical care nursing trauma workshop was developed, piloted, evaluated and scaled up for emergency, trauma and critical care nurses completing their specialist education (Carter, 2023). This has resulted in over 600 critical care nurses completing the workshop. Other activities have included supporting national and regional conferences, sharing of best practice with regional partners.
Supporting all our projects is our community of practice, our members bring expertise from across the world including the NHS. We have been fortunate to be able to support 89 virtual and in-country international volunteers, with a further 29 critical care nurses from our partnership in Zambia visiting the UK and other countries. Our volunteers are from a range of backgrounds and settings, with the majority being from the UK and the diaspora, we also have volunteers from countries such as Australia.
This year we are delighted that we will have the CCNAZ President and another senior critical care colleague joining us at the BACCN Conference to present the findings from our rehabilitation study and an evaluation of an international remote mentorship programme. We are very grateful to the BACCN for its continued support for our work and we currently have a research project looking at the view of critical care nurses regarding research, education, and practice in central Africa.
If you would be interested in knowing more about our work, please visit our website: https://www.bcu.ac.uk/nursing-and-midwifery/international-projects
If you be interested in supporting the partnerships nutrition project further details can be found at: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/bcunutritionincriticalcare
Dr Chris Carter Prof Joy Notter
Associate Professor Professor
Centre for International Health Partnerships
Birmingham City University
Reference
Carter C. (2021). Introducing the Critical Care Nurses Association of Zambia. https://www.baccn.org/static/uploads/resources/Chris_Carter_-_Critical_Care_Nurses_Association_of_Zambia_CCNAZ.pdf
Carter C. (2023). BACCN Final Report. https://www.baccn.org/static/uploads/resources/Chris_Carter_-_Critical_Care_Nurses_Association_of_Zambia_CCNAZ.pdf