Newborn Aides: An Innovative Approach in Sick Newborn Care at a District-level Special Care Unit

AUTOR(ES)

Sen, Amitava

FONTE

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research

RESUMO

A Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU), established in a district hospital in India, substantially reduced the neonatal mortality rate in the district; it, however, suffered from a dearth of trained nurses. Local girls with 10-12 years of school education underwent structured and hands-on training for six months, followed by a six-month internship at the SNCU and were assigned to it as stipendiary ‘Newborn Aides’. Based on the results of formal examinations, internal on-the-job assessment and interview of doctors, nurses, and parents and their technical skills and motivation were rated very high. Although the incremental cost of training is small, the cost of sustaining them, i.e. stipend and replacing attrition, needs to be addressed. Trained Newborn Aides may substantially alleviate human-resource constraint for SNCUs and Sick Newborn Stabilization units in smaller peripheral hospitals for care of sick newborns at an affordable cost.

Documentos Relacionados

• FRED: an innovative approach to nursing home level-of-care assignments.
• Citrobacter koseri meningitis in a special care baby unit.
• Integrating health care for mothers and children in refugee camps and at district level
• Integrating health care for mothers and children in refugee camps and at district level
• The Parental Experience of Having an Infant in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit