Nurse-Led Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic: A New Emerging Concept in a Developing Country

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and acceptance of nurse-led neonatal follow-up clinic (NLNFC) in a tertiary care facility. Materials and Methods: In a prospective observational study, total 105 stable mother-neonate dyads were independently followed up in both nurse led and neonatologist run follow-up clinics. The outcome was measured in terms of agreement between the nurse and neonatologist in the domains of neonatal assessment, counselling mothers on essential newborn care (ENC) and giving advice (P < 0.05) and mothers’ acceptability for NLNFC. Results: Agreement between the trained neonatal nurse and neonatologist varied between 87 and 100%. The most unanimity was observed in neonatal assessment and counselling on ENC (93.3%-100%) followed by prescribing treatment (87%). The mean acceptability scores of the mothers for NLNFC was 33.13 ± 2.6 (25-35, maximum possible score 35). Conclusion: Establishing NLNFCs in developing countries is feasible. Nurses can be entrusted with the responsibility of following up stable neonates here and mothers will surely be satisfied with this type of clinic.