Healthcare providers’ perspective on the role of on-job training in improving Neonatal care at Tumbi Regional Hospital, Pwani - Tanzania

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: The neonatal mortality rate in Tanzania is 24 deaths per 1,000 live births. Tanzania Government has adopted many interventions including on job-training to improve newborn health outcomes and reduce Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR). Kibaha District is among the Regions where Health Care Providers had the opportunity of receiving On-job training but improvement of newborn care significantly remained a challenge. Material and methods: The study employed an exploratory descriptive qualitative design. The study was conducted at Tumbi Regional Referral Hospital where 12 participants were selected through a non-probability purposive sampling technique. A semi-structured interview guide with probing questions was used as a data collection tool and the interview was conducted after obtaining the consent of the participants. All interviews were audio-recorded using a digital audio recorder. The recorded data was analyzed by thematic data analysis approach. Results: The findings of this study indicated the health care providers' views that it is necessary to increase the number of trainings, and increase the hospital budget for trainings. Furthermore, on-job training might result in knowledge updates, improved neonatal care services and job satisfaction. Moreover, challenges related to on job trainings included shifting of healthcare workers, theory-based trainings, lack of evaluation as well as few numbers of trainings. Conclusion: On job trainings stands as a catalyst to enhance health care providers knowledge, skills and improved neonatal care services. Furthermore, the on-job trainings contribute to the improved newborn care services, eventually increasing the confidence to health care providers towards newborn care. Recommendation: It is essential to enhance investment in on-job training initiatives at the grassroots level, as these facilities frequently refer critical neonatal cases to high level hospitals. The lower-level facilities are where the vast majority of the population seeks medical care. Therefore, provision of the on-job training efforts at this level is crucial for improving overall newborn healthcare outcomes.