
Nurse Mentoring
Through the nurse mentoring intervention, The Antara Foundation enhances the readiness of labor rooms, and significantly improves knowledge and skills of birth attendants in public health facilities. Government nurses are provided on-the-job training by nurse mentors based on their knowledge assessment, with baseline, midline and endpoint assessments.
Problem
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Facilities are disorganized and inadequately equipped
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The knowledge and skills of medical workers at facilities are below par and not refreshed on a regular basis.
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Protocols are either not clearly established or not duly followed.
Solution
The nurse mentoring intervention focuses on enhancing ill-equipped public health facilities and training low-skilled medical workers in high caseload delivery points. It involves a comprehensive six-week training cycle that is imparted to the labor room staff of these facilities. The training ranges from labor room organization to complication management. The nurse mentors use theoretical and bedside teaching methods with the help of simulations on models. Clear protocols are displayed in each labor room, and a thorough check is carried out to ensure that they adhere to government guidelines.
The intervention creates master trainers among government supervisors who can cascade training within their blocks, and train labor room staff on a regular basis.

Impact

120,000
deliveries made safer

47% to 98%
improvement in labor room readiness

70%
increase in nurses' knowledge
Figures are based on estimates using publicly available sources, and from Antara Foundation’s monitoring system in Rajasthan