Background

1. Combating Childhood Diarrhea in Niger, Africa Kristine T. Foth DNP, ACNPUniversity of Wisconsin- Madison Background Objectives Results • Participants: 15 nurses and 4 health care workers from the “Under 5” pediatric clinic at Galmi Hospital • Knowledge Attainment • Diarrheal Illness Presentations • Diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death in children under five years in Sub-Saharan Africa • One in every five children in Niger dies before the age of five • Leading world health organizations have emphasized education and training to reduce diarrhea-related child mortality • Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) has been credited with reducing infant/child mortality by nearly 50% among developing countries • ORT is given to only 14.8% of children with diarrhea in Sub-Saharan Africa • To increase knowledge in recognition and management of pediatric diarrheal illness among nurses and health care workers at Galmi Hospital • To decrease the number of patients presenting with diarrheal illness at Galmi Hospital Nurses and health care workers demonstrated knowledge attainment following delivery of the educational curriculum t(17)=5.25, p=.0001 There was no statistically- significant influence in patient care outcomes t(4)=1.01, p=.37 Methods Conclusions/ Implications for Practice • A one-group pre-test/post-test, quality improvement study was conducted • Nurses and health care workers from Galmi Hospital’s “Under 5” pediatric clinic received four weeks of didactic and mentored teaching on child diarrheal illness and dehydration, including assessment, triage, management, and prevention • Instruments used for Data Analysis: • Pre- and post-intervention written knowledge test administered to nurses and health care workers • Skills observations checklist assessing delivery of patient education • Diarrheal illness presentation log • Nurses and health care workers are in a strategic position to address community health concerns if equipped with the knowledge and experience to assume roles in patient and community education • The four-week training program was effective and could be implemented in other clinics/hospitals to improve staff knowledge • Further research is required to determine how to effectively prepare nurses and health care workers as patient educators and improve patient care outcomes in the developing world