Implementation and Evaluation of a Maternal-Child Nurse Breastfeeding Educational Training: A Leadership Journey

Henderson, Shakira

Saturday, 16 November 2013

Shakira Henderson, MS, MPH, RNC-NIC, IBCLC
Center for Research and Grants, Baptist Health South Florida, South Miami, FL

Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to describe one approach to improve nurse support of breastfeeding in the hospital setting.

Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to describe a leadership journey of a Sigma Theta Tau Maternal-Child Leadership Fellow.

If the U.S. breastfeeding initiation rates at hospital discharge were raised to meet the Healthy People 2020 goal of 81.9%, it is estimated that the economy could save at least 13 billion dollars and the nation could avoid at least 911 infants a year. Breastfeeding initiation in the hospital is directly linked to the knowledge, training, and competency of the healthcare professional. Nurses are the largest group of healthcare professionals providing care to mothers and infants. However, in the U.S., maternal-child nurses do not receive adequate education and/or training in school or in the workplace to assist mothers who want to breastfeed.

The purpose of this project is to describe the implementation and evaluation of a maternal-child nurse breastfeeding educational training at South Miami Hospital.

A hospital-based inter-professional team was developed to conduct an educational needs assessment, identify a breastfeeding curriculum, execute the mandatory breastfeeding training, and track nurse and patient outcomes pre- and post- the educational intervention. From that team, 10 lactation specialists were trained to be breastfeeding instructors and taught twenty 4-hour sessions between January 2013 and March 2013.

Nurse Knowledge gain was evaluated by conducting a paired t-test of a random sample of pre- and post- test scores. Patient Satisfaction with nurse support of breastfeeding was tracked for the first quarter of the year in 2013 and compared to five years prior.

Approximately 287 maternal-child nurses attended the training. There was a statistically significant increase in knowledge scores from pre to post testing (t (20) = 8.04, p < 0.0001). Patient satisfaction for the first quarter of 2013 was the highest (92%) that it had been in the previous five years.

A nurse-driven breastfeeding educational intervention has the potential to impact nurse knowledge gain, patient satisfaction, and the overall reputation of a hospital.

See more of: 2012-2013 Maternal-Child Health Nurse Leadership Academy Invited Posters
See more of: Invited Posters