Haiti
Since the inception of the program in 2013, St. Therese Hospital in Hinche was our longest commitment. We offered refresher training to the nursing staff in 2017 and in 2018 we turned the NICU and the caregiving over to the local healthcare system as part of a planned 5-year transition. In 2018 we visited St. Boniface Hospital in Les Cayes to assess the site for future training, which was subsequently provided in November 2018. This was the first comprehensive training program that we have offered in the Southern District of Haiti and it was delivered to 16 participants, 15 NICU nurses employed at SBHF and one nurse from an area hospital who traveled to Fond des Blanc for training. The training in Les Cayes will be ongoing.
Learn more about our work in Haiti
Rwanda
In 2016 we offered a course entitled, Professional Practice of Advanced Neonatal Care (PPANC) to 20 participants at Gisenyi District Hospital. Training consisted of 160 hours of classroom and clinical instruction. In early 2017 we offered Phase 2 (see Phases on What We Do page) train-the-trainer instruction. Later that year Phases 3 and 4 were completed. The program provides partial salary support to an in-country physician who oversees ongoing training. In August 2019, that physician will be in Columbus for Phase 5, the bilateral exchange. Rwanda continues to be a committed partner in the ongoing training process.
Kenya
The program began in Kenya in 2015 with the first several days of the training program focused on the Helping Babies Breathe curriculum and infant stabilization after birth, Neonatal assessment, and Gestational Age Ballard Scoring. The in-classroom portion was done at the Baraka Hospital Campus. The remainder of the month long course focused on clinical mentoring and hands on experience at the respective hospitals. Every Wednesday, lectures were given to complete the full didactic component of training.
The original course participants also completed a Train the Trainer Program in May 2016 (Phase 2), which was a three-day training program to help build leadership skills and educate sustainable trainers for the country of Kenya.
The Phase 3 training program incorporated 24 new participants composed of nurses or clinical officers working within neonatal/maternity services from either Narok or Bomet counties and 12 returning participants from the original training program to act as instructors during the most recent PPANC program. In 2018 we provided salary support for an in-country supervisor to continue to organize and oversee trainings. In 2019, two of our partners from Kenya will come to OSU and Children’s for a two-week training program (Phase 5).
Tanzania
The Ohio State University Greif Neonatal Survival Program was first delivered in Dodoma, Tanzania in 2016. The following year, August 22-September 17, seventeen nurses and nurse midwives participated in the training and received a Professional Practice in Advanced Neonatal Care Certificate. The second class utilized utilized 11 of the previous participants who took the train-the-trainer course and helped with the new class. The Train-the-Trainer model is a vital next step in ensuring the sustainability of the program. Incorporating previous course graduates as instructors gives Tanzanian healthcare professionals practical teaching experience as well as reinforcement of their own clinical skills. HBB classes continue to be offered.