Maternal Health Nurse Competency in Addressing Emergency Obstetric Care: An Assessment in Southern Mozambique

Description

Dula and colleagues assessed how well maternal health nurses in southern Mozambique handle two obstetric emergencies, severe pre-eclampsia and bleeding before birth, in 2026 health workforce research. Pre-eclampsia is dangerous high blood pressure in pregnancy. The team surveyed nurses at 80 primary-level health facilities between November and December 2022, using a structured questionnaire plus written clinical scenarios that tested real decisions rather than self-rated confidence alone.

Of 191 participants, most were mid-level nurses, averaging 33 years of age across the sample. On the survey day, 82.7 percent had provided prenatal consultations, yet only about half knew the national standards for those visits. Just 44.5 percent scored above 50 percentage points on the competency measure used in the study. Dula argues the gap between daily practice and tested emergency skill is wide. Training and supervision, the authors suggest, need to target the emergencies most likely to kill mothers.

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Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13516758