October 2015 Dispatch

Dispatch 6, October 2015

MAISHA

Celebrating Focused EMOC Training Success

November Events MNCH Training for CHVs Having completed their 10day standard training to become CHVs, the four groups in Nyeri county and 10 groups in Migori county will be taking part in a 5-day training focusing specifically on MNCH.

November 2nd-13th in Nyeri November 16th-27th in Migori

Research and Dialogue Days MAISHA completed another round of the EMOC Refresher course over October 8th-13th in Nyeri and October 15 th-20th in Migori. This was the second delivery of the MAISHA-crafted refresher course, which focuses on the most relevant skills for rural health facilities in Kenya. Nurses from MAISHA supported facilities have been invited to attend the full EMOC course in 2013, the first refresher course in October 2014 and the latest refresher course this past month. The MAISHA team welcomed a number of nurses with no previous experience of EMOC and will track the skills retention of all participating nurses to qualify the 2-day course verse the full 5-day course.

Spotlight: Kenya In-Country Coordinator Kenyan In-Country Coordinator Winnie Koima oversees the planning, organization and implementation of the Focused EMOC (FEMOC) training. As MAISHA’s key presence in communities, health facilities and at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology (DeKUT) Winnie provides ongoing support to nurses, volunteers and families. With formal training as a nurse and extensive project management experience Winnie provides an insightful approach to problem solving and future planning to the project. This year Winnie sampled FEMOC as a participant herself and succeeded with a record score!

Gender specific research will be conducted with male focus groups in Migori and Nyeri and will inform Community Dialogue Days.

Late November An in-depth qualitative analysis of the role Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) play in maternal health in Migori.

November 16th- 27th

Dispatch 6, October 2015

Results and Response MAISHA was pleased to record a high level of participation in the FEMOC training held in Migori with 31 nurses in attendance. The feedback in Nyeri was positive and continued trainings were requested for the future. Migori participants also held this sentiment, where almost half of those in attendance had no previous EMOC training. In terms of results, both groups showed that skills retention had not remained at the same level as the post testing from the EMOC refresher course in 2014. This suggests EMOC courses are still necessary and it challenges the MAISHA team to find more solutions for skills retention, taking into account that new participants skew the comparison of results collected from 2014 and 2015. In the chart below the average pre and post test results in Migori for both 2014 and 2015 are displayed. The testing is broken down into theory, three skill areas and the overall score of the group. Notably, vast improvements are made during each FEMOC course, however pre-testing records low scores in essential skills such as neonatal resuscitation.

A forthcoming paper written by MAISHA and DeKUT Nursing Department will further analyze the impact and future of FEMOC.

“Since the EMOC training in Nyeri we have been able to save lives and manage several cases including successfully delivering a breech.” – Nurse Mokami, God Kwer Migori

What’s next for FEMOC? At the end of each training participants and MAISHA consult on the ‘way forward’. This year the team was inspired by the participation and interest in Migori. There, the nurses emphasized the wish to continue to have yearly FEMOC refreshers. In addition, the nurses committed to having bimonthly facility meetings, practical sessions in the larger referral hospitals, to share information via a mobile MAISHA group and to mentor fellow health workers in their facilities.