1733 Acceptability and Implementation of Fimnci by Medical Officers and Staff Nurses in Government Health Institutions of Western India

Background and Aims FIMNCI (Facility based Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood Illnesses) course has been launched by Government of India to train Medical Officers (MOs) and Staff Nurses (SNs) of Government Institutions from year 2010 onwards. FIMNCI deals with intensive care of serious illnesses in children below 5 years. Would FIMNCI training impart the confidence and skills required for implementation of this training were our research questions. Methods Cross-sectional Questionnaire based survey from 53 participants of three FIMNCI trainings. MOs and SNs belonged the Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community health Centres (CHCs) and Civil hospitals. Questions related to availability of facilities at their working place; confidence in ability to perform skill based procedures and acceptability and implementation of FIMNCI. Results The PHCs and CHCs have adequate facilities to treat non critical problems but most lack facilities for intensive care. Most MOs (84.2%) and SNs (79.4%) are confident of triage in emergency room as well as providing positive pressure ventilation. All MOs and most SNs (61.9%) were confident in treating sick children at CHCs while most MOs (66.6%) and SNs (83.3%) were not confident at PHCs. Most participants preferred that FIMNCI training should be of longer duration. SNs preferred training in local language. Most MOs were not confident in monitoring of sick children. Conclusion More focused training should be provided for the staff of PHCs and CHCs like Triage and Resuscitation. Advanced care for various serious illnesses in children cannot be imparted by short training courses.