Maternal Health Training Priorities for Nursing and Allied Health Workers in Colombia, Honduras, and Nicaragua
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Pan American Journal Original research of Public Health Maternal health training priorities for nursing and allied health workers in Colombia, Honduras, and Nicaragua Amelia J. Brandt,1 Samantha Brown,1 Silvia Helena De Bortoli Cassiani,1 and Fernando Antonio Menezes da Silva1 Suggested citation Brandt AJ, Brown S, De Bortoli Cassiani SH, Menezes da Silva FA. Maternal health training priorities for nursing and allied health workers in Colombia, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Rev Panam Salud Publica. 2019;43:e7. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2019.7 ABSTRACT Objective. To assess maternal health training priorities for primary care human resources for health (HRH) in nursing and allied health workers in Colombia, Honduras, and Nicaragua, to inform maternal care HRH strategic planning efforts. Methods. This Washington, D.C.–based study utilized cross-sectional survey methodology to collect country-level data. From October 2016 to March 2017, a needs assessment tool was devel- oped by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) and PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers. Data collection was completed by PAHO/WHO country offices, in collaboration with national health authorities and other high-level government person- nel. The collected data included information on the composition, capacities, and training priorities of traditional birth attendants (TBAs), community health workers (CHWs), registered nurses (RNs), and auxiliary nurses in the three study countries; the findings were summarized in a report. Results. Data on the health workforce composition in the three countries indicated reliance on HRH with low levels of education and training, with limited integration of TBAs. In all three countries, management of obstetric emergencies was a training priority for RNs, and identification of danger signs was a priority for CHWs and TBAs. Training priorities for aux- iliary nurses varied widely across the three countries and included health promotion, precon- ception and prenatal care, and obstetric emergencies. There was also a wide range in the total number of HRH across the three countries. Conclusions. Reliance on health workers with low levels of training is concerning but can be mitigated through in-service training. Training priorities are consistent with the major causes of maternal mortality, and Latin America and Caribbean region training programs show promise for improving quality of care. In the long term, planning for maternal care HRH should seek to increase the concentration of health professionals that are more highly skilled. Keywords Human resources; maternal health services; primary health care; capacity building; strategic planning; Latin America; Caribbean region; Colombia; Honduras; Nicaragua. 1 Human Resources for Health Unit, Health Preventable pregnancy- or child- In addition, for each maternal death, Systems and Services Department, Pan American at least 30 women suffer complica- Health Organization, Washington, D.C., United birth-related complications kill 830 States of America. Send correspondence to: women daily, with 99% of these deaths tions with potential long-term conse- Amelia Brandt, [email protected] occurring in developing countries (1). quences (1). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. No modifications or commercial use of this article are permitted. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that PAHO or this article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the PAHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article’s original URL. Rev Panam Salud Publica 43, 2019 1 Original research Brandt et al. • Training priorities for maternal care in nursing/allied health: Colombia, Honduras, and Nicaragua Maternal mortality (MM) in the Amer- achieve sustained and equitable health Paulo. The development of the instru- icas region has dropped by more than in the Americas (17). PAHO/WHO Res- ment was informed by a literature re- 40% in the past 20 years, but these ad- olution CSP29.R15 (Strategy on Human view on maternal health in the Americas vances do not affect all women equally Resources for Universal Access to region and existing tools (19, 20). (2). For example, for 2015, the estimated Health and Health Coverage), approved The Spanish-language instrument maternal mortality ratio (MMR) for the in September 2017 at the 29th Pan Amer- consisted of a 24-page written survey Americas is 52 deaths per 100 000 live ican Sanitary Conference, reaffirms divided into three sections (health care births, but in Latin America and the Ca- PAHO/WHO’s role in providing techni- personnel, training needs, and country ribbean (LAC) it is more than 30% higher cal support to member states to improve resources). The target population in- (68) (3). The estimated MMRs of Colom- capacity for strategic HRH planning cluded four categories of health work- bia, Honduras, and Nicaragua are also (18). This type of strategic planning re- ers providing maternal health care at high at 64 (2014), 129 (2010), and 150 quires the identification of HRH train- the primary care level in LAC countries: (2016) respectively (3). ing priorities in maternal health. traditional birth attendants (TBAs), The MMR varies by ethnicity, socio- In 2016 and 2017, as part of the community health workers (CHWs), economic status, and geography (1, 2). IHSLAC project (Integrated Health Sys- registered nurses (RNs), and auxiliary For example, the 2001 pregnancy-related tems in Latin America and the Caribbe- nurses. These categories were selected mortality ratio in Honduras ranged from an), funded by Global Affairs Canada, a based on consultations with maternal 177 to 277 across different regions of the survey tool was developed to conduct health experts and country offices on country and was higher in those with an assessment of maternal health train- the key nursing and allied health work- high poverty and low development (4). ing priorities for nursing and allied ers providing maternal health services The leading direct cause of MM in the health workers working in the first level in the three countries studied. The four Americas is hemorrhage, closely fol- of care in Colombia, Honduras, and groups were defined as follows using lowed by hypertension (5). The esti- Nicaragua. These three countries were internationally recognized criteria: mated proportion of deaths caused by selected for the study based on the ac- 1) TBA—person without formal educa- hemorrhage is 23.1% (13.3% during post- cessibility of country information, the tion who assists mothers through child- partum, 5.8% during prepartum, and MMR, and the level of interest of the birth using skills learned through 4.1% during intrapartum) (5). PAHO/WHO country offices and na- delivering babies herself or through an Increased access to skilled birth atten- tional health authorities. apprenticeship with other TBAs; 2) dance in low- and middle-income coun- The objective of the study was to assess CHW—community member selected by tries has not led to expected reductions in maternal health training priorities for pri- peers who works in the community to preventable MM and morbidity, possibly mary care HRH in nursing and allied provide care to support health care de- due to a lack of good-quality maternity health workers in Colombia, Honduras, livery and has no formal professional care (6–8). Low-quality services and disre- and Nicaragua, to guide maternal care certificate or degree; 3) RN—individual spectful care can harm women’s health HRH strategic planning efforts. The study who has graduated from a nursing pro- and well-being (9). Quality must be im- was designed to contribute to LAC coun- gram typically lasting three to four proved at all levels of care to continue try efforts to achieve universal access to years and has legal authority to practice progress in reducing MM and morbidity health, universal health coverage, and the as a nurse in his/her country based on (10–12). Highly skilled care does not nec- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).2 national regulations and licensing; and essarily lead to improved outcomes, even The assessment was limited to nursing 4) auxiliary nurse—individual with ba- in high-income countries. A review of 13 and allied health workers to match the sic nursing knowledge and, usually, randomized control trials in Australia, scope of the training efforts that will be high school–level training, who may Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the informed by the study results. have some on-the-job training but has United Kingdom found that women who no training in nursing decision-making. had midwife-led continuity models of MATERIALS AND METHODS The health care personnel section of care were less likely to experience region- the survey instrument covered in this al analgesia, episiotomy, and intrapartum This study used a cross-sectional report was designed to collect informa- analgesia/anesthesia compared to vari- quantitative survey methodology to col- tion on the general characteristics and ous combinations of care models focused lect country-level data on national ma- scopes of practice for each type of health on highly skilled care (13). ternal HRH needs. worker. The three country-level survey Interventions targeting human re- The survey instrument was devel- respondents were asked to answer cir- sources for health (HRH) in the areas of oped by PAHO/WHO’s Department of cle-response questions and describe, in management, education, and policy Health Systems and Services/Human writing, key capacities for each type of have been shown to improve HRH ca- Resources for Health Unit (HSS/HR) in provider and the scope of their practice pacity and maternal health outcomes collaboration with the following in the country. Both multiple-choice and (14), especially when there is an empha- PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers: open-ended questions were used to elic- sis on strengthening primary health care University of Chile, University of Mi- it general descriptions related to the (PHC) (15, 16).