An evidence-based and multifactorial communication intervention encompassing staff skills development and training, development of relevant patient materials or devices and collaborations with relevant health professionals like speech and language therapists has the potential to improve nurse-patient communication in the ICU and hence improve patient outcomes.

BackgroundThere are recent efforts made to eliminate inequalities in the utilisation of basic health care services. More emphasis is given for improvement of health in developing countries including maternal and child health. However, disparities for the fast-growing population of urban poor are masked by the urban averages. The aim of this paper is to report on the findings of antenatal care adequacy among slum residents in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.MethodsThis was a quantitative and cross-sectional community based study design which employed a stratified two-stage cluster sampling technique to determine the sample. Data was collected using structured questionnaire administered to 870 women aged 15–49 years. Weighted ‘backward selection’ logistic regression models were employed to identify predictors of adequacy of antenatal care.ResultsMajority of slum residents did not have adequate antenatal care services with only 50.3, 20.2 and 11.0 % of the slum resident women initiated antenatal care early, received adequate antenatal care service contents and had overall adequate antenatal care services respectively. Educational status and place of ANC visits were important determinant factors for adequacy of ANC in the study area. Women with secondary and above educational status were 2.7 times more likely to receive overall adequate care compared to those with no formal education. Similarly, clients of private healthcare facilities were 2.2 times respectively more likely to receive overall adequate antenatal care compared to those clients of public healthcare facilities.ConclusionIn order to improve ANC adequacy in the study area, the policy-making, planning, and implementation processes should address the poor adequacy of ANC among the disadvantaged groups in particular and the slum residents in general.

BackgroundPatients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) often experience communication difficulties - usually associated with mechanical ventilation - resulting in psychological problems such as anxiety, fear, and depression. Good communication between nurses and patients is critical for success from personalised nursing care of each patient. The purpose of this study is to describe nurses’ experience of a communication skills training intervention.MethodsA convenience sample of twenty intensive care nurses participated in the study. Data was collected by means of interviews with nurses. Data from the interviews were analysed using qualitative thematic content analysis.ResultsSix themes emerged: (1) acceptance of knowledge and skills developed during workshops; (2) management support; (3) appreciation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices; (4) change in attitudes; and (5) the need to share knowledge with others and (6) inclusion of communication skills workshop training as an integral part of an orientation programme for all nurses.ConclusionThe findings of this study indicated that the application of augmentative and alternative communication devices and strategies can improve nurse-patient communication in intensive care units. Therefore, the implementation of communication skills training for intensive care nurses should constantly be encouraged and, indeed, introduced as a key element of ICU care training.

The main aim of this study was to examine factors determining women's preference for places to give birth in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A quantitative and cross-sectional community based study design was employed. Data was collected using structured questionnaire administered to 901 women aged 15–49 years through a stratified two-stage cluster sampling technique. Multinomial logistic regression model was employed to identify predictors of delivery care. More than three-fourth of slum women gave birth at public healthcare facilities compared to slightly more than half of the nonslum residents. Education, wealth quintile, the age of respondent, number of children, pregnancy intention, and cohabitation showed net effect on women's preference for places to give birth. Despite the high number of ANC attendances, still many pregnant women especially among slum residents chose to deliver at home. Most respondents delivered in public healthcare institutions despite the general doubts about the quality of services in these institutions. Future studies should examine motivating factors for continued deliveries at home and whether there is real significant difference between the quality of maternal care service offered at public and private health facilities.

SettingThe study was conducted in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Specifically, it was conducted in all healthcare facilities offering maternity and obstetric services.ObjectiveThe objective of the study was to explore the patterns of caesarean-section (CS) delivery in Addis Ababa.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was carried out between December 2013 and January 2014. The population for the study were women aged between 15 and 19 years of age who had given birth in the last 1–3 years before the date of data collection. The Census and Survey Processing System software was used for data capturing and analysing both descriptive and inferential statistics using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0.ResultsAmongst the 835 women who delivered at health facilities, 19.2% had given birth by CS. The prevalence of CS based on medical indication was 91.3%. However, 6.9% of CS performed had no medical indication. Private health facilities performed more CSs than public health facilities, 41.1% and 11.7% respectfully. CS was high amongst women of higher socio-economic standing.ConclusionOverall, CS deliveries rate in Ethiopia is above the rate recommended by the World Health Organisation. Because socio-economic factors influence CS delivery, governments should play a key role in regulating performance of CSs in private institutions.

A greater understanding of communication dynamics with the intensive care unit with patients who are mechanically ventilated is crucial to enable nurses to improve their care and improve patients' comfort. Incorporating communication in the nursing standards would ensure that patients are treated with dignity which would help improve patient outcomes.

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) can be traumatic, not only for patients, but also their closest relatives, especially spouses. Within Botswana, a developing country with very few ICUs and not so sophisticated machinery or a generalised lack of counselling for relatives, the ICU experience can be more traumatic. This study reports on the proportion of spouses who continued to experience mental distress, including the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder, at six months after the discharge of their spouse from an intensive care unit. Mixed data collected approaches were used on a convenience sample of 28 spouses of patients who had been hospitalised at the Princess Marina Hospital ICU, Gaborone, Botswana, in the six months prior to the interview sessions. Participants were interviewed six months after the discharge of their spouse from the Intensive Care Unit using the PCL-S (PTSD Checklist). All the patients had been mechanically ventilated and had been hospitalised in the ICU for more than three days. Fifteen spouses reported intrusive memories of ICU and avoided reminders of the experience six months later. Ten spouses reported feeling anxious for a short while after their spouse's discharge but that they had come to terms with the experience. In order to mitigate the trauma experienced by spouses the study suggests that pre- and post-counselling for close relatives, especially spouses, should be implemented at the point of hospitalisation, during admission, and after discharge for a period of at least six months.

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