A blended curriculum to improve student community health officers’ competencies in newborn infection prevention and control

BACKGROUND: Infections contribute significantly to neonatal mortality in Nigeria. Community health officers (CHOs) provide maternal, newborn and child health services at the primary health care level. However, newborn infection prevention and control (NB-IPC) is not included in their current training curriculum, which has little innovation in teaching methods. This study assessed the effectiveness of a blended curriculum on NB-IPC in improving the competencies of student CHOs. METHODS: This pre- and post-test study was conducted in the CHO training school of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), which has 70 students enrolled. We developed and implemented a blended curriculum on NB-IPC using Kern’s six-step framework. Twelve videos were recorded of content experts teaching various aspects of NB-IPC and were watched online or downloaded by students. Two interactive practical sessions were held in class. Pre- and post-course assessment of knowledge was with multiple choice questions, attitude with a Likert scale, and skills with an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE). Course satisfaction was also assessed with a validated scale. Paired t-test was used to determine mean differences at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: The mean knowledge score of students increased from 10.70 (95% confidence interval (CI): 10.15–11.24) pre-course out of a possible score of 20 to 13.25 (95%CI: 12.65–13.84) post-course (p < 0.001). Mean attitude score increased from 63.99 (95%CI: 62.41–65.56) out of a possible score of 70 to 65.17 (95%CI: 63.68–66.67) (p = 0.222). The mean OSCE score increased from 21.27 (95%CI: 20.20–22.34) out of a possible score of 58.5 to 34.73 (95%CI: 33.37–36.09) (p < 0.001). Mean post-course satisfaction score of students was 127.84 (95%CI: 124.97–130.89) out of a possible score of 147. CONCLUSION: The new curriculum on NB-IPC improved the competencies of student CHOs in LUTH and they were highly satisfied. The blended curriculum may be a feasible addition to learning in CHO schools across Nigeria. KEY MESSAGE: A blended curriculum on NB-IPC involving video teaching is effective in improving the competencies of student CHOs.