Intensive Mentorship: An Innovation in Improving Clinical Practice and Patient Outcome in Mansa District of Zambiaby: Martha Ndhlovu, Michelle Wallon, Brenda Mubita, Constance Choka, Kwame Asiedu and Betty Kunda

Purpose To build the capacity of Ministry of Health

and partner staff in Mansa District to conduct targeted, clinical, on-site mentorship in EmONC to ensure that clients receive high-quality, improved services, which will help reduce both maternal and child mortality.

Graph of Results

Method Trained team of 16 district mentors in:

Mentoring skills Integrated Reproductive Health supervisory

tool and EmONC skills checklists Anatomic models to guide on-site clinical

simulations Data collection and support Reporting

A team of 2 or 3 mentors visits every delivering facility on a monthly basis.

Quarterly Recognition/Clinical Update Meetings held with staff representatives of all facilities: High-performing facilities are recognized and

presented with plaque by DMO; all facility staff receive recognition certifi cate.

Recognized staff are highly motivated, and staff from other facilities return to their facilities with motivation to improve service delivery. Conclusion

Intensive mentorship results in: Immediate and sustained application of skills

learned during EmONC training Improved provider confi dence and morale

Health care providers are now managing complications that previously were referred: Improved outcomes for pregnant women Reduced pressure on emergency transport

systems and referral facilities

Results Results show that highly motivated nurses and

midwives are now able to perform procedures such as manual removal of the placenta, resuscitation of asphyxiated babies, etc., which previously were referred to a higher level of care.

Introduction/Background From 2001—2002, Zambia saw a signifi cant

reduction in its maternal mortality ratio, from 791 to 591 per 100,000 live births. This improvement is credited to the increased investment by the Ministry of Health (MOH), donors and implementing partners in reproductive health programming and emergency obstetric and neonatal care (EmONC), in particular.

The majority of such programming has, however, focused on in-service training, with comparatively little focus on post-training supervision and long-term mentorship, which sustain and make costly training investments worthwhile.

Mansa District

Funding for the production of this poster was provided by USAID through the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) through Cooperative Agreement #GHS-A-00-08-00002-000. The opinions herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily refl ect the views of USAID.

Recognition of best practices

Mentorship in session

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

EmONCfacilities

performing allsignal

functions

Facility births Birthsattended by

skilled healthcare workers

MOH stafftrained in PQI

andmentorship

Targetfacilitiesreceivingmonthly

mentorship

WomenreceivingAMTSL in

targetfacilities

Deliverieswith

partograph

Women withpre-eclampsiareceiving care

Oct - Dec 2011

Oct - Dec 2012

Mentorship session

Key To Success Strong ownership by Mansa DHO. Involvement and collaboration of many district

partners. Proper training in mentorship skills. Use of anatomic models for on-site clinical

simulations.

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