The China-Sierra Leone Nursing Training Center has successfully conducted its 5th specialized nursing training session, aimed at enhancing the skills and knowledge of frontline nurses and improving the quality of healthcare delivery across Sierra Leone.
Held on July 31, the training was organized by the 27th Chinese Medical Team (Hunan) deployed to Sierra Leone. The team designed three specialized courses based on the country’s major health challenges and clinical nursing needs. The sessions focused on orthopedic trauma nursing, malaria diagnosis and care, and pediatric rehabilitation nursing, providing local senior nursing professionals with practical, standardized, and locally relevant healthcare skills.
Sierra Leone, located in the tropical region of West Africa, experiences a significant number of road traffic accidents and other forms of trauma, resulting in a high burden of orthopedic injuries. However, challenges remain in standardized trauma management, particularly at primary healthcare levels.
To address this gap, Associate Professor Huang Xianzhe of the 27th Chinese Medical Team delivered a comprehensive lecture on orthopedic trauma nursing. His presentation covered standardized trauma care procedures, wound management, patient monitoring, prevention of complications, and rehabilitation nursing practices. Using real clinical cases and considering the realities of available healthcare resources in Sierra Leone, Professor Huang provided practical approaches that nurses can apply in their daily work. The session helped improve participants’ ability to manage orthopedic trauma cases effectively and promote better patient outcomes.
Malaria, one of Sierra Leone’s most common infectious diseases, was another key focus of the training. Due to its year-round transmission and the presence of many asymptomatic carriers, effective diagnosis, monitoring, and nursing management remain critical in reducing severe illness and deaths.
Associate Professor Zhou Ning conducted a specialized session on malaria care, covering standardized diagnosis, disease classification, treatment principles, patient monitoring, early identification of severe cases, and comprehensive nursing management. The training emphasized practical areas such as monitoring asymptomatic patients, managing fever, preventing dehydration, identifying medication-related complications, and providing health advice after discharge. The session strengthened nurses’ ability to provide more effective malaria care and improve early risk detection.
The training also placed strong emphasis on child healthcare through a specialized lecture on pediatric rehabilitation nursing delivered by Professor Liu Chunlei from Hunan Children’s Hospital. The course addressed the health and developmental needs of children, particularly in areas such as nutritional challenges, growth monitoring, rehabilitation assessment, early intervention, daily care, and family-based rehabilitation support.
By introducing scientific and systematic approaches to pediatric rehabilitation, the session helped fill existing knowledge gaps among local nurses and strengthened their capacity to provide quality care for children with developmental and rehabilitation needs.
The training was highly interactive, with participating Sierra Leonean nurses actively engaging with instructors, taking detailed notes, sharing clinical experiences, and discussing challenges encountered in their daily practice. Many participants described the sessions as practical, informative, and directly applicable to improving nursing services in their respective healthcare facilities.
Since its establishment, the China-Sierra Leone Nursing Training Center has provided continuous, structured, and professional nursing education guided by the principle of empowering local healthcare workers with sustainable skills. Through regular specialized lectures, practical demonstrations, and knowledge-sharing initiatives, the 27th Chinese Medical Team continues to support the development of a skilled and independent nursing workforce in Sierra Leone.
These efforts represent another milestone in China-Sierra Leone health cooperation and contribute to the broader goal of building a China-Africa community of health for all.