TY - JOUR AU - Daga, Subhashchandra PY - 2022/01/04 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Nursing Care of Low-Risk Newborns in Low Resource Setting: Nurses' Aides May Bridge the Gap at Community Hospitals JF - European Journal of Clinical Medicine JA - CLINICMED VL - 3 IS - 1 SE - Review DO - 10.24018/clinicmed.2022.3.1.158 UR - https://ej-clinicmed.org/index.php/clinicmed/article/view/158 SP - 1-4 AB - <p><em>Objective:</em> To study the role of a nurses' aide in the care for newborns weighing between 1500 and 2000 g at birth in a low resource setting.</p><p><em>Study Design:</em> Observational.</p><p><em>Setting:</em> The General hospital in 1994-95, in a public sector, located in a remote area in India</p><p><em>Intervention:</em> A female ward assistant with seven years of schooling trained, on-the-job, to keep babies warm, initiate maternal breastfeeding, and to detect rapid breathing. The nursing staff from the pediatric ward supervised her performance. A separate "warm room" appropriately heated for preterm and sick babies became a makeshift nursery. The nursing staff administered enteral feeding, oxygen, and antibiotics. Services of the resident doctors or general duty medical officers were not available.</p><p><em>Results:</em> The survival rate was nearly 100% for babies with birthweights between 1,500 and 2,000 g (none referred out).</p><p><em>Conclusions:</em> A nurses' aide may facilitate the delivery of special care for newborns where nursing personnel are grossly inadequate and saving babies weighing between 1,500 and 2,000 g may need minimal inputs. It may be worthwhile to target 1,500 and 2,000 g birthweight categories even when resources are meager.</p><p>What is already known about this subject?</p><ul><li>Low resource settings face staff shortages, especially nursing staff.</li><li>Health workers with midwifery skills can deliver nearly 90% of essential care services for maternal and neonatal health.</li><li>A substantial proportion of neonatal deaths occur among moderately low birth weight babies.</li></ul><p>What does this study add?</p><ul><li>It is possible to train a semi-literate person to facilitate early breastfeeding and to keep a baby warm.</li><li>A large proportion of deaths among babies with birthweight ranging from 1500 to 2000 g are preventable with meager resources.</li></ul><p>How might this impact on clinical practice or future developments?</p><p>The facilities facing shortage of nursing staff in low resource settings, may employ nurses’ aide to deliver basic newborn care.</p> ER -