Utilization of technology to provide on-the-job trainings on Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care: Perspectives of nurses and midwives working in Rwanda's remote health facilities.

Introduction: One of the targets for the third sustainable development goals is to reduce worldwide maternal mortality ratio (MMR) to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. To address issues affecting women and the newborns during childbirth and postnatal period, concerted efforts from governments and their stakeholders are crucial to maximize the use of technology to enhance frontline health professionals' skills to provide the emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC). However, no study has garnered nurses' and midwives' perspectives regarding the application of technology-enhanced learning approach to provide on-the-job Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and factors that may influence the application of this training approach in the Rwandan context.

Access to continuous professional development for capacity building among nurses and midwives providing emergency obstetric and neonatal care in Rwanda.

Background: Nurses and midwives are at the forefront of the provision of Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC) and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is crucial to provide them with competencies they need to provide quality services. This research aimed to assess uptake and accessibility of midwives and nurses to CPD and determine their knowledge and skills gaps in key competencies of EmONC to inform the CPD programming.

Methods: The study applied a quantitative, cross-sectional, and descriptive research methodology.

Evaluating the medical direct costs associated with prematurity during the initial hospitalization in Rwanda: a prevalence based cost of illness study.

Background: Prematurity is still the leading cause of global neonatal mortality, Rwanda included, even though advanced medical technology has improved survival. Initial hospitalization of premature babies (PBs) is associated with high costs which have an impact on Rwanda's health budget. In Rwanda, these costs are not known, while knowing them would allow better planning, hence the purpose and motivation for this research.

Use of a Facilitated Group Process to Design and Implement a Group Antenatal and Postnatal Care Program in Rwanda.

Introduction: The government of Rwanda is exploring strategies that may reduce the incidence of prematurity and low birth weight. Large-scale implementation of group antenatal care (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC) within the context of the Rwanda national health care system is under consideration. To launch a cluster randomized controlled trial of group ANC and PNC in 5 districts in Rwanda, the implementation team needed a customized group care model for this context and trained health care workers to deliver the program.

Prediction of severe disease in children with diarrhea in a resource-limited setting.

Objective: To investigate the accuracy of three clinical scales for predicting severe disease (severe dehydration or death) in children with diarrhea in a resource-limited setting.

Methods: Participants included 178 children admitted to three Rwandan hospitals with diarrhea. A local physician or nurse assessed each child on arrival using the World Health Organization (WHO) severe dehydration scale and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) scale.

Oxygen saturation can predict pediatric pneumonia in a resource-limited setting.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends using age-specific respiratory rates for diagnosing pneumonia in children. Past studies have evaluated the WHO criteria with mixed results.

Objective: We examined the accuracy of clinical and laboratory factors for diagnosing pediatric pneumonia in resource-limited settings.