AMERICAN TRAINING NEONATAL RESUSCITATION PROGRAM - AN EXPERIENCE IN ITS IMPLEMENTATION IN OMAN

Objective: Resuscitation is performed more frequently in the neonatal period than at any other period of life. The purpose of this program i s to assure that at every delivery there is someone who is skilled in neonatal resuscitation and additional skilled staff readily available to assist. Design: The program contains six lessons, each of which add resses a different skill of resuscitation. This allows an individual t o acquire a skill and master it before learning another and permits ta iloring the program to match one's job reponsibilities. The program is self-instructional, self-paced, with an instructor available to answe r questions, assist with practice, and administer written and performa nce tests. Setting: Twelve courses have been conducted between Sept., 1992 to Sept., 1994 at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH): 9 cou rses for providers and 3 courses for instructors. The course has been conducted for 18 hours regularly every other month. Each course and pe rformance of the teaching staff were evaluated by the participants. Th e overall two years' activity was evaluated by a committee from the co ncerned departments. Results & evaluation: The number of participants were 92 in provider's courses and 8 in instructor's courses. Eighty pe rcent of the providers were from SQUH. The majority of the participant s felt the duration of the course was adequate. Its contents covered a ll aspects of neonatal resuscitation and was informative and useful. T he presentations were well organized and the self-paced instruction an d practical demonstrations were effective. Conclusion: The design of t his program will enable any hospital, regardless of size or geographic location, to have its own Neonatal Resuscitation Program. Its self-in structional format allows individuals to study at their own pace, maki ng it readily available to new staff and easily implemented on all shi fts.