Translating continuing professional development education to nursing practice in Rwanda: Enhancing maternal and newborn health

Abstract

Introduction: Approximately 99% of the three million neonatal deaths that occur annually are in developing countries. In Rwanda, neonatal asphyxia is the leading cause of neonatal mortality accounting for 38% of all neonatal deaths. The Helping Babies Breathe (HBB©) course was initiated by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in 2010 to reduce neonatal mortality in resource limited areas. Despite the provision of HBB© courses to practicing nurses in Rwanda, little is known about nurses’ experiences of applying the knowledge and skills acquired from those courses to practice. This study was conducted in 2014 in five district hospitals (Nyamata, Rwamagana, Gahini, Kiziguro, and Kibungo) located in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. Purpose: Explore nurses’ experiences of translating continuing professional development (CPD) education utilizing the HBB© course to nursing practice in Rwanda. Methods: Qualitative descriptive design. A purposive sample of 10 nurses participated in individual interviews. NVIVO computer software was used to manage qualitative data. Content analysis was used for generating categories from the data. Findings: Three categories emerged from the analysis: 1) application of competencies acquired from education sessions to practice, 2) benefits of CPD, and 3) facilitators and barriers to the application of competencies into practice. Qualitative interviews revealed that Nurses’ perceived confidence in performing newborn resuscitation improved after taking part in HBB© courses. Nonetheless, nurses voiced the existence of conditions in their work environment that hindered their ability to apply the acquired knowledge and skills including insufficient materials, shortages of nurses, and potential inadequate human resource allocation. Recommendations and conclusion: Regular offerings of newborn resuscitation CPD courses to health professionals in developing countries could increase their knowledge and skills, which could potentially reduce neonatal mortality. The findings from this study underscore a need to attend to the shortages of nurses and lack of neonatal resuscitation materials and equipment in Rwanda. Collaborative efforts can continue to enable nurses to effectively utilize competencies acquired from CPD courses in developing countries. Keywords: Helping Babies Breathe©, Nursing practice, Continuing professional development, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, Rwanda