Consultant – Comparative Study to Assess the Quality of Nursing and Midwifery Care, Comparing Care Provided by Graduates of the Decentralized Model of Nurse Training with Graduates from the Traditional Training Model Jobs in Lusaka Zambia SolidarMed Zambia Jobs in Lusaka Zambia View and Apply Consultant – Comparative Study to Assess the Quality of Nursing and Midwifery Care, Comparing Care Provided by Graduates of the Decentralized Model of Nurse Training with Graduates from the Traditional Training Model Jobs in Lusaka at SolidarMed Zambia


SolidarMed Zambia

Swiss Organisation for Health in Africa

BACKGROUND

For the past three years, Ministry of Health (MoH) has had as its vision a
Nation of Healthy and productive people. In operationalizing the vision, MoH
operates with the focus on improving the health status of people in Zambia in
order to contribute to increased productivity and socio-economic development.
To achieve this goal, MoH places emphasis on the increased provision of Human
resources for health (HRH) as top of its agenda (Zambia National Health
Strategic Plan 2017 -2021).

In Zambia, the largest share of the workforce in the health sector are nurses
and midwives. The nurses and midwives provide 24-hour continuity of care. One
of the objectives in the strategic interventions by MoH in relation to nursing
and midwifery services is ‘to produce an educated, competent and motivated
nursing and midwifery workforce able to meet the health needs of the public’
(Zambia National Health Strategic Plan 2017 -2021).

The responsibility of regulating nursing and midwifery education, training and
practice in Zambia is the mandate of the Nursing & Midwifery Council of Zambia
(NMCZ) whose aim is to ensure public protection from the unsafe nursing and
midwifery care and to promote the provision of quality healthcare services and
professionalism.
High quality healthcare provision cannot be delivered without a high-quality
professional education. It is for this reason that NMCZ is further assigned
with the task of developing the curricula for training Nurses and Midwives in
Zambia. Essentially, this regulatory body ensures that colleges adhere to the
curricula and maintain high quality standards of education.

SolidarMed carried out a pilot nursing project (2015 to 2018) aimed at
contributing to higher numbers of nurses ready for work in rural districts of
Zambia. It achieved this by adopting a decentralized practical training model,
through which the students rotated around four different hospital practical
training sites, rather than all remaining at the small rural mission hospital
attached to the School. This meant that higher numbers of students could be
trained, whilst exposing them to a rich and varied learning environment in
rural settings. The model also brought additional benefits for the
participating learning site hospitals, which are chronically understaffed, by
providing badly needed ward staff.

Lessons learned at the end of the pilot revealed that the project had
delivered significant benefits. Therefore, SolidarMed extended the project
into a new phase of four years. The new project phase builds on the successes
of the decentralised training model to meet the demands of the healthcare
system for additional nurses, midwives and public health nurses (PHN).
Overall, the focus of the project is to increase the numbers of nursing
graduates for the Zambian healthcare system, in a way that maintains the or
enhances quality of the bedside care provided and supports the development of
efficient and sustainable training institutions. Indeed, during the period,
over 400 additional nurses and midwives graduated from the pilot school
(Figure 1), St Luke’s, during the period 2013-19, over and above the number
that the school would have been able to graduate without the decentralised
model.
However, no work has so far been carried out to examine the quality of the
nursing and midwifery care that the graduates subsequently provide to
patients. This study aims to fill this research gap by comparing the quality
of nursing & midwifery care that graduates from the two models deliver.

2\. THE ASSIGNMENT

Purpose

SolidarMed is looking for a consultant/expert to carry out a comparative study
to evaluate the quality of nursing and midwifery care by those trained under
the decentralized model and to compare it with the nurses and midwives trained
in the traditional model. The consultant will make recommendations to the key
stakeholders and the funders according to the findings.

While we know that the decentralized model graduates more nurses than the
traditional model, this study seeks to understand whether the decentralized
model also produces better nurses as measured by the quality of the care they
subsequently deliver.

The consultant will set up a scientific study evaluating the quality of
nursing and midwifery care of those who have graduated from the decentralized
model of training (at St Luke’s Nursing School) and those who have graduated
under the traditional way of training (by taking graduates of another
comparable nursing & midwifery school that operates under the traditional
model). The study may infer from the differences in observed clinical practice
by the two groups of nurses and midwives in what way they may be a result of
their nurse training and the two clinical training approaches under which they
were educated.

Activities

1\. To design a scientific study with the hypothesis that “nurses trained
under the decentralized model show equal or better service quality in terms of
nursing care delivered to patients compared with nurses trained under the
traditional system”
2\. This study should first draw upon the literature and propose a small
number of measures of nursing care that will be used in this case
3\. To develop the scientific data collection tools, test them and use them in
field settings, organize data management against the agreed nursing care
measures, for further analysis
4\. To collect, collate and analyse the data (qualitative, as well as
quantitative) as defined in the research plan
5\. Agree appropriate outputs and draft them to a good publishable standard,
presenting the key finding to stakeholders, with the support of SolidarMed.

Key Outputs

1\. A detailed and agreed research methodology that addresses the goals of
this commission, including field work and any ethical considerations
2\. A preliminary short report that proposes a few critical indicators of care
quality that will be the focus of this research
3\. A well analysed and packaged report clearly showing the differences in
quality of care provision between nurses and midwives trained using the
decentralized model and those trained using the traditional method.
4\. Power point presentation and draft report to the stakeholder review
meeting
5\. A final report, revised in the light of feedback from stakeholders
6\. SolidarMed will Publish the findings
Note The final documents should be submitted to SolidarMed in both hard and
soft copies.

Work Location

During the contract period, the consultant will be expected to work in close
consultation with the SolidarMed Project Manager. The consultant can be based
at SolidarMed offices in Lusaka, if preferred.

3\. DURATION OF ASSIGNMENT

The consultant will be free to undertake the assignment from July to October
2020 and the consultant should be available for briefing on a date to be
communicated. Strict adherence to the timeframe shall be required. The
consultant will be required to attend stakeholders’ meetings upon request
during the study period until the study is finalized and disseminated.

The debrief meeting with the stakeholders is scheduled to be held in October
at a date to be arranged. At this meeting, the consultant shall be expected to
present their draft report.

The final report and combined master plan shall be submitted to SolidarMed on
30 November 2020.

4\. DESIRED BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE FOR THE CONSULTANT

The consultant will be required to possess the following qualifications and
experience

1\. Strong track record of having led, carried out and participated in
research and publications of this type
2\. Demonstrate exposure and experience in utilizing all research methods
(qualitative, Observational and quantitative) including transcribing.
3\. Knowledge and experience of nursing and midwifery training and practice in
Zambia.
4\. A Degree and postgraduate qualification in Nursing or Midwifery or in
Social Sciences are an advantage.
5\. Knowledge/experience working with stakeholders in the education or health
sectors

The consultant should demonstrate the following abilities

i. Excellent report writing and English language skills
ii. A track record of innovative thinking;
iii. Evidence of giving technical advice to teams
iv. Work independently within strict timelines;
v. Strong project planning skills;
vi. Design research studies, elaborate tools and validate them, analyse and
present complex information; and,
vii. Possess interpersonal, teamwork and communication skills.

5\. SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL

Eligible Consultant(s) should submit a consultancy proposal letter, along with
their CV(s) detailing how they will approach the task, their background and a
detailed budget, including their daily rate (and include tax, per diems,
travel and other incidental costs) either in electronic or hard copy format.

Proposals should be delivered not later than 1200 hrs on Monday 30th July
2020 at the address below or by e-mail.

SolidarMed Project Manager Nursing, email b.zulu@solidarmed.ch
SolidarMed office, Plot 11740, LMMU Campus, Great East Road, Lusaka, Zambia



Send your Application Through




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Email b.zulu@solidarmed.ch


Consultant – Comparative Study to Assess the Quality of Nursing and Midwifery Care, Comparing Care Provided by Graduates of the Decentralized Model of Nurse Training with Graduates from the Traditional Training Model Jobs in Lusaka Zambia SolidarMed Zambia Jobs in Lusaka Zambia View and Apply Consultant – Comparative Study to Assess the Quality of Nursing and Midwifery Care, Comparing Care Provided by Graduates of the Decentralized Model of Nurse Training with Graduates from the Traditional Training Model Jobs in Lusaka at SolidarMed Zambia


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