Using CLA to Increase Health Worker Capacity in SNCUs in Nepal

Utilizing the CLA technique of pause and reflect, MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership (MCGL) and Nepal’s Family Welfare Division (FWD) identified a major gap in the capacity of doctors and nurses working in Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU) and developed a plan to improve it. Pausing and reflecting after each SNCU site visit identified that the existing training packages are rarely conducted as they are quite lengthy, for medical officers it is 7 days long while for nurses it’s 15 days long with a requirement of additional days for traveling. Considering the constraints in time and resources, under the direction of the director of FWD, MCGL started drafting an adaptive 3-day orientation package aimed at rapidly sensitizing staff engaged in the care of SSNBs at level II health facilities that are awaiting the already existing comprehensive training packages. This package directly responds to priorities outlined by the president of Nepal to focus on “Special Newborn care programs,” emphasizing the needs for significant efforts to achieve the target of 12 newborn deaths per 1,000 live births outlined in SDG target goal 3.2 and the Nepal Every Newborn Action Plan (NENAP). To meet the coverage and quality targets set by the NENAP, the government of Nepal strengthened its focus on inpatient Small and Sick Newborn (SSNB) care and financed the establishment of new Newborn Intensive Care Units (NICU) and Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU) throughout the country.