Master Trainers
Introduction - Training of new facilitators
Master trainers are responsible for developing facilitators and additional master trainers who will use the educational methodology of Helping Babies Breathe. The goal is to prepare birth attendants so that they can successfully resuscitate babies who are not breathing at birth.Preparation of facilitators includes:
- Understanding the educational design of the course materials
- Emphasis on practice to integrate knowledge and skills into performance
- Promotion of active learning and continued learning
- Essential localization and adaptation of course content
- Orient to potential methods for evaluation
- Experienced teachers and content experts in neonatal resuscitation
- Trained and/or experienced in education
- Dedication to learner focused education
Organizational responsibilities – might include
- Contribute to the needs assessment for neonatal care and HBB's role in on-going programs.
- Contribute to the national/regional planning for HBB training and commit to striving for the goal to have a trained birth attendant at every delivery.
- Help identify facilitators and arrange local educational opportunities.
- Help provide cultural interpretation, localization, adaptation and translation.
- Serve as a scientific resource for programs of early neonatal care including HBB and help explain scientific principles to new facilitators and learners.
- Help emphasize the educational principles and approaches of HBB.
- Assist in the training of facilitators and additional master trainers.
- Help evaluate course integrity and facilitator effectiveness.
- Assist facilitators to effectively use the HBB materials and develop local responses to unique issues.
- Help prepare a facilitator corps to implement an HBB train the trainer model.
- Help develop HBB outcome assessment that will direct future educational directions and resources.
- Contribute to scientific advances in early neonatal care including HBB.
Planning Considerations
The focus of a Helping Babies Breathe course should be learning of skills, practice, and integration of skills and decision-making. These are planning considerations for courses that are training new facilitators.
Before the Course
- Learners can gain knowledge in advance of a course by reading the Learner Workbook and completing the Check yourself questions. Small groups of learners can prepare in their workplaces 1-2 weeks before a classroom skills session. Learners can reflect and think of the questions they would like to ask in class.
- Learners should practice individual skills as they are introduced in the Facilitator Flip Chart pages.
- Learners practice sequences of skills in the exercises that summarize each section of the Action Plan.
- Learners integrate knowledge and skills with decision making in the practice of case scenarios.
- Action Plan
- Learner Workbook
- Facilitator Flip Chart
- Neonatal simulator/mannequin/bag and mask.
- Written/verbal evaluation, Bag/mask performance evaluation, and Objective Structured Clinical Evaluations (OSCEs)
Conducting the Course
- The classroom environment should encourage participants to be active as both learners and facilitators. The classroom experience should form a basis for continued learning in the workplace after the course.
- Consider allocating up to two days to present materials and allow for group practice. The concept of simulation takes some time to convey. Dividing learners into pairs can help facilitate their practice. Plan to spend most classroom time on practice and use discussion instead of lectures.
- Consider the cultural environment and what is culturally acceptable. For example is it culturally acceptable for mothers to hold the baby on the abdomen after it is born? What methods of stimulation are used? What substitutions may need to be considered?
- Highlight your key messages: priority at birth is the baby, etc. Begin with orientation to the Flip Chart, Action Plan, Learner Workbook, mannequin and other key materials.
Develop the teaching skills of future facilitators
- Always emphasize positive performance first, then suggests ways to improve, and end with encouragement or a positive comment.
- Review the written/verbal evaluation with learners, as well as their Bag/Mask and OSCE performance.
- Encourage the importance of self-evaluation abilities for all facilitators and participants so they can constructively critique their own performance and become peer teachers.
Evaluation
Helping Babies Breathe includes 3 different types of evaluations with different criteria for successful completion:
- Written/verbal evaluation – 80% of questions correct
- Bag/mask performance evaluation – 100% performance of required steps
- Objective structured clinical evaluations (OSCEs) – 80% overall performance, including all required steps
