Technology-Based Newborn Health Learning Initiatives for Facility-Based Nurses and Midwives in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

Use of Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in a hybrid digital / in-person training for hormonal IUD in Nigeria: findings and applications of the approach

Background: The hormonal intrauterine device, a long-acting reversible contraceptive method, is being introduced to pilot sites in the private and public sector in Nigeria by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health since 2019. To inform training of health care providers, a study was conducted on a hybrid digital and in-person training which utilized Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to assess competency of provider trainees. This study represents one of few documented experiences using OSCE to assess the effectiveness of a digital training. Methods: From September - October 2021, in Enugu, Kano and Oyo states of Nigeria, 62 health care providers from public and private sector health facilities were trained in hormonal IUD service provision using a hybrid digital / in-person training approach. Providers, who were skilled in provision of copper IUD, underwent a didactic component using digital modules, followed by an in-person practicum, and finally supervised service provision in the provider trainee's workplace. Skills were assessed using OSCE during the one-day practicum. Results: Use of the OSCE to assess skills provided valuable information to study team. The performance of provider trainees was high (average 94% correct completion of steps in the OSCE). Conclusions: OSCE was used as a research methodology as part of this pilot study; to date, OSCE has not been integrated into the training approach to be scaled up by FMOH. Uniformly high performance of provider trainees was seen on the OSCE, unsurprising since provider trainees were experienced in providing copper IUD. If and when training is rolled out to providers inexperienced with copper IUD, OSCE may have a more important role to assess skills before service provision. The role of OSCE in design of hybrid digital / in-person training approaches should be further explored in rollout of hormonal IUD and other contraceptive technologies.

E-learning use in the review of neonatal resuscitation program in physicians: a scoping review

OBJECTIVE

To determine if e-learning interventions are efficient to review Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) and to prevent performance deterioration in neonatal resuscitation of already-certified healthcare professionals.

STUDY DESIGN

In this scoping review, we searched for manuscripts published until June 2020 in five databases. We included all studies on e-learning use for NRP review in already-certified healthcare providers.

RESULTS

Among 593 abstracts retrieved, 38 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. Five studies were included. Four studies evaluated the effectiveness of e-learning interventions immediately or months after their completion by providers. These interventions did not consistently enhance their NRP knowledge and their performance. One study showed that a growth mindset can influence positively neonatal resuscitation performance after an e-learning simulation.

CONCLUSION

There is not enough evidence to conclude that e-learning interventions can prevent neonatal resuscitation knowledge and performance decay in already-certified providers. More research is needed on the use of e-learning simulation-based scenarios to improve NRP retention.

Human Resources for Health-Related Challenges to Ensuring Quality Newborn Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

A critical shortage of health workers with needed maternal and newborn competencies remains a major challenge for the provision of quality care for mothers and newborns, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Supply-side challenges related to human resources for health (HRH) worsen shortages and can negatively affect health worker performance and quality of care. This review scoped country-focused sources to identify and map evidence on HRH-related challenges to quality facility-based newborn care provision by nurses and midwives.

METHODS

Evidence for this review was collected iteratively, beginning with pertinent World Health Organization documents and extending to articles identified via database and manual reference searches and country reports. Evidence from country-focused sources from 2000 onward was extracted using a data extraction tool that was designed iteratively; thematic analysis was used to map the 10 categories of HRH challenges.

FINDINGS

A total of 332 peer-reviewed articles were screened, of which 22 met inclusion criteria. Fourteen additional sources were added from manual reference search and gray literature sources. Evidence has been mapped into 10 categories of HRH-related challenges: (1) lack of health worker data and monitoring; (2) poor health worker preservice education; (3) lack of HW access to evidence-based practice guidelines, continuing education, and continuing professional development; (4) insufficient and inequitable distribution of health workers and heavy workload; (5) poor retention, absenteeism, and rotation of experienced staff; (6) poor work environment, including low salary; (7) limited and poor supervision; (8) low morale, motivation, and attitude, and job dissatisfaction; (9) weaknesses of policy, regulations, management, leadership, governance, and funding; and (10) structural and contextual barriers.

CONCLUSION

The mapping provides needed insight that informed new World Health Organization strategies and supporting efforts to address the challenges identified and strengthen human resources for neonatal care, with the ultimate goal of improving newborn care and outcomes.