Embedding the WHO-ICRC Basic Emergency Care course as a sustainable curriculum innovation in pre-service nursing education in Uganda

Abstract Background Health professions education is increasingly expected to produce graduates who are clinically competent, ethical, confident and able to work in teams across complex health systems. In many low-resource settings, however, undergraduate nursing students may complete training without a structured approach to recognising and responding to acutely ill and injured patients. This paper describes the process of embedding the WHO-ICRC Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course within undergraduate nursing education in Uganda. Methods We report a health professions education case study informed by education quality improvement. The intervention began in 2018 as an externally supported short course and was incorporated into the fourth-year Emergency and Trauma Nursing course unit during curriculum review in 2019. Anonymous voluntary feedback from 32 fourth-year nursing students from one of the cohorts that completed a five-day BEC course was analysed using inductive content analysis. Results The embedding process moved through five stages. These were recognising the emergency-care preparation gap, introducing BEC as a pre-service training intervention, piloting delivery, incorporating BEC into the curriculum, and planning for sustainable university-led delivery. Student feedback generated four themes, which were translating ABCDE into structured first-response practice, building confidence to recognise, prioritise and communicate emergency problems, using simulation and team-based learning as safe rehearsal, and strengthening system readiness for transfer of learning. Conclusion BEC can support competency-based, learner-centred emergency-care education for undergraduate nurses. Embedding BEC before graduation may strengthen clinical readiness, teamwork and a common language for first response, while offering a scalable model for health professions education in low- and middle-income countries.