Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is a model of care in which different healthcare providers work together to achieve a better patient outcome (D’Amour et al., 2005). Given the complexity of obstetric and neonatal emergencies, which often rely on more than one medical team, Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is an important aspect to consider. According to WHO (2004), (EmONC) can be provided by a range of health professionals whose titles may vary by country contexts. There is a consensus that these health care providers should be referred to as “skilled attendant” or, “skilled birth attendant”, in order to avoid confusion (World Health Organization, 2004). Even though all of these skilled birth attendants are from diverse backgrounds, with different level of experience, they must collaborate with mutual trust, role clarification and effective communication to enable them to successfully fill their role in the management of obstetric and neonatal care (Nancarrow et al., 2013). Rwanda, a landlocked country located in East Africa has made a positive progress toward achieving reduction of maternal and new born mortality rate. However, there is still a need to do more to enhance quality of emergency obstetric and neonatal care (EmONC) to continue improving and achieve the acceptable standard (National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, Ministry of Health, Kigali, Rwanda, The DHS Program ICF International, Rockville, Maryland, 2015). The quality of healthcare services cannot be achieved without an IPC between different healthcare practitioners (Sayinzoga et al., 2016). Mentorship programs have been implemented to enhance quality of maternal and newborn care and contribute to reduction of maternal and newborn mortality rate.
An ongoing study aiming at understanding the IPC experiences among healthcare professionals who benefited from mentoring program working in maternity services in five district hospitals in Northern province of Rwanda, is being conducted to explore the barriers and benefits in implementing the IPC approach to care.
Proposed Methods/Methods: The study have used a qualitative descriptive design(QD) and has recruited 30 healthcare professionals, including Anesthetists, medical doctors, nurses and midwives working maternity and dealing with EmONC. Interviews have been conducted using a semi structed interview guide. In accordance with QD design, interviews recorded have been transcribed verbatim and content analysis will be done to identify emergent categories and themes
Significance of the study
The results from this study will contribute to the body of knowledge and provide information related to the barriers to successful implementation of IPC, as well as the knowledge translation of mentors which will reflect the effectiveness of the mentorship provided. This information should be useful for the programs organizers as well as policy makers, administrators, and implementers including those in the TSAM- MNCH project, Rwanda Ministry of Health and district hospitals to address the challenges of having IPC as a key component for quality healthcare service delivery to contribute to the reduction of maternal and newborn mortality rate in Rwanda
