What is a Community of Practice?
A CoNP is a working group of neonatal education and practice specialists who advocate for improved quality of care for small and sick newborns and their families including sharing of educational structures, definitions, standards, models of care, and lessons learned with health providers and institutions across Africa.
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Who is eligible to join?
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Nurses, champions and leaders able to advocate for quality care of small and sick newborns and their families and the need for a specialized cadre of neonatal nurses including other Community of Practice (CoP) leaders, university managers and academics, Nursing and Midwifery Council administration, and Ministry of Health (MoH)
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Educators and Practitioners who can share their experiences in the development of neonatal education and models of neonatal practice and quality of care.
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Neonatal educators and clinical practitioners who are in the early phase of developing education and clinical programs who would benefit from the experience of more established programs including mentoring.
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Why is a Community of Practice needed?
The high neonatal mortality rate in African countries needs to be reduced by establishing a new cadre of specialized neonatal nurses with opportunities for advanced education and clinical practice in the care of small and sick newborns and their families. There has been very little change in the Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) across African countries and this is why a new cadre of neonatal nurses is required.
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What are the current issues?
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Communicating definitions regarding the different levels of neonatal nursing education.
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Establishing standards for the different levels of neonatal nursing education and practice.
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Improving the understanding and application of WHO levels of care in Special Care Baby Units (SCBUs) and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs).
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Decreasing the confusion regarding the roles of midwives and neonatal nurses and the importance of both.
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Increasing advocacy for improve small and sick newborn care by university, hospital and ministry leaders/stakeholders.
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Improving the availability of life-saving equipment and supplies essential for safe practice.
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Increasing the number of trained staff assigned to the SCBUs, and incentives to improve the quality of care (salary, benefits) and opportunities for professional development.