RESUMO
Despite the improvement in neonatal and infant mortality rates in Malawi, statistics still identify 27 neonatal mortalities per 1,000 live births and 42 infant mortalities per 1,000 live births. These figures are still unacceptably high. The common causes of neonatal death are prematurity (37%), intrapartum-related complications (28%), and severe infection (24%). These causes create an opportunity to further improve the mortality rates in both populations with a focus on improving the clinical skills of nursing and midwifery students in Malawi. Training to recognize when an infant requires resuscitation, as well as how to perform resuscitative and post-resuscitative care, may help to reduce Malawi's infant mortality rate in the future.
RESUMO
Obstruction of a tracheostomy tube is a common cause of respiratory compromise in adults and pediatric patients, which can lead to a life-threatening emergency if it is not properly managed. Compromised airway patency has many potential etiologies; however, the scenario described in this technical report focuses specifically on the management of tracheostomy obstruction through the presence of a mucus plug, blood clot, or highly viscous secretions. The simulation described in this technical report was written to be conducted as an in-situ simulation within the intensive care unit (ICU) at Mzuzu Central Hospital, Malawi. The novel aspect of this report is that it depicts the integration of low-tech simulation with a deteriorating patient scenario educational methodology. This integration enables the use of affordable and sustainable simulation materials in Malawi context to deliver learning objectives that are otherwise not achievable. It was designed to train nurses, clinical officers, and nursing students from the ICU and male/female surgical wards. It can be utilized to train similar learners in other resource-poor regions of the world, as well as remote areas of the more developed countries.
