Educational impact of the neonatal resuscitation program in low-risk delivery centers in a developing country.

Abstract

To evaluate the effectiveness of the American Academy of Pediatrics Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) in improving knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy of nurse midwives in low-risk delivery clinics in a developing country. We used the content specifications of the NRP material applicable to college-educated nurse midwives working in low-risk clinics in Zambia to develop performance and self-efficacy evaluations focused on principles of resuscitation, initial steps, ventilation, and chest compressions. These evaluations were administered to 127 nurse midwives before and after NRP training and 6-months later. After training, written scores (knowledge evaluation) improved from 57%+/-14% to 80%+/-12% (mean+/-SD; P< .0001); performance scores (skills evaluation) improved the most from 43%+/-21% to 88%+/-9% (P< .0001); self-efficacy scores improved from 74%+/-14% to 90%+/-10% (P< .0001). Written and performance scores decreased significantly 6 months after training, but self-efficacy scores remained high. As conducted, the NRP training improved educational outcomes in college-educated practicing nurse midwives. Pre-training knowledge and skills scores were relatively low despite the advanced formal education and experience of the participants, whereas the self-efficacy scores were high. NRP training has the potential to substantially improve knowledge and skills of neonatal resuscitation.