Neonatal Resuscitation Training Programme, Its Efficiency at Rural Hospital

Birth asphyxia is one of the commonest causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity. Prompt and proper application of various management strategies as per standard American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) neonatal resuscitation guidelines will help to prevent birth asphyxia and decrease the consequent/resultant mortality and morbidity.
Neonatal resuscitation is an essential skill in maternal and child health, and every health care personnel should know the basic steps of resuscitation. Thus, the neonatal resuscitation training programmed (NRTP) was conducted based on the latest international 2005 AAP Neonatal Resuscitation guidelines. A set of multiple choice questions for both pre- and post tests was administered before and after the NRTP to assess the knowledge and skill gained by the participants.
The NRTP was conducted by the Department of Pediatrics, MGIMS, KHS Hospital Sevagram. The participants were undergraduate, postgraduate and nurses. Before starting the lectures, participants were given the pre-test consisting of 35 multiple choice questions covering the entire NR protocol based on AAP Neonatal Resuscitation guidelines. The post-test was administered at the end of the training programmed. The participants’ pre- and post-test marks were categorized into very good score (80%), good score (60-80%), and unsatisfactory score (<60%). The t-test for paired samples was calculated using SPSS 10 version.
A total of 107 participants who were given pre- and post-tests were included in the study group. Maximum participants were final year undergraduate students (55.14%) followed by B.Sc. nursing students (12.14%) and staff nurses (11.21%). The mean pre-test score was 17.56 (SD ± 4.68) that went up to 27.71 (SD ± 2.36) as a mean post-test score {p value <0.000; 95% CI -10.92 to -9.37}. The highly significant improvement was observed in the post-test scores of MBBS final year students (p < 0.000; 95% CI -11.28 to -9.73), staff nurses (p < 0.000; 95% CI -11.58 to -8.71), community postgraduates (p < 0.000; 95% CI -8.22 to -5.43), and B.Sc. nursing students (p < 0.000; 95% CI -18.59 to -13.07). Significant improvement was also observed in the post-test scores of anesthesia postgraduates, gynecologist postgraduates, medical officers, and pediatrics postgraduates.