In the second quarter of 2022, NEST360 in Malawi provided support for clinical skills lab supportive supervision, technical training at MUBAS and MUST, progress updates and collaboration across Malawi.

Clinical Skills Labs Supportive Supervision

Clinical skills lab practice is an integral part of competency-based learning in the training of health care workers. Previously, the NEST360 project team, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Christian Association of Malawi (CHAM), and Nurses and Midwives Council of Malawi (NMCM), conducted a one-day joint supportive supervision of the training schools’ clinical skills lab. Guided by findings from the joint supportive supervision, the NEST360 project team conducted a learning visit with some of the training institutions. The visit included sharing experiences and discussing ideas to improve the performance of the skills lab. These efforts support sustainability.

The supportive supervision visits occurred at six training schools, namely St Luke’s College of Nursing, Malawi College of Health Sciences-Zomba campus, Holy Family College of Nursing, Mulanje Mission College of Nursing, Deyeang University, and St Johns College of Nursing. The experiences shared centered on skills lab layout, staffing, management of equipment and clinical skills lab records. There was a strong commitment from each colleges’ management to work towards improved standards of clinical skills lab, as reflected in the progress made. Also, during the visit, it was determined that there was no standard documentation tool to track the use of the skills lab. The NMCM was tasked to develop the standard tool for documentation.

The visit was a success, and the exercise will go a long way in improving the standards and performance of the clinical skills lab.

Technical Training: Neo-tech Management Courses

NEST360 Malawi conducted its third Neo-tech Management Course. The target group for this training session was Faculty members from Malawi University of Business and Applies Sciences (MUBAS) and Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) who are responsible for imparting knowledge at the grassroots level. These courses for faculty support the sustainability of neonatal care in terms of management of neonatal care technologies in hospitals.

Following the Neo-tech Management Courses, the two training schools began implementing practical sessions at their respective facilities for their biomedical engineering students.

Health Facility Assessments: Progress Meeting

April 7-8, 2022, NEST Malawi conducted its first ever quarterly review meeting to assess and track progress made in the first quarter of 2022. The facilities invited to attend were Kamuzu and Zomba Central Hospitals, Bwaila, Mzimba, Chitipa, Mangochi and Ntchisi district hospitals. Each facility sent three representatives, including the nursery ward in-charge, nursery ward clinician, and one member of hospital management team.

All invited facilities attended and participated fully. During the meeting, we achieved some goals, including distributing the Health Facility Assessment results and orienting the attendees with using the dashboard to monitor hospital statuses and outcomes.

Collaboration Across Malawi

In May 2022, NEST Malawi conducted collaborative meetings in all the 5 zones: North, Central East, Central West, South East and South West. The aim was to share the learnings across the facilities, mainly on how they are progressing with their QI projects. Participation was good and there was good progress on how the WIT teams were owning the QI projects and keep track of them.