Tinashe Mwaturura's upgrading on 'Development, implementation and evaluation of quality improvement interventions for blood culture services for neonates in a tertiary hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe' will be taking place on Monday the 24th of February 2025 at 12:30 GMT.
Zoom details here
Meeting ID: 933 3470 1106
Password: 728558
Abstract
Sepsis is a leading cause of death among neonates, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Predominant pathogens causing sepsis are highly resistant Gram-negative bacteria such as extended beta-lactamase-producing (ESBL) Klebsiella pneumoniae, most of which are likely healthcare-associated infections, with both ante- and post-natal transmission. With current neonatal mortality rates standing at 37/1000, Zimbabwe is unlikely to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of neonatal mortality rates of <12/1000 by 2030.
Diagnostics is the crucial gap in the effective management of neonatal sepsis in Zimbabwe. The rapid identification of resistant pathogens has the potential to change clinical management to prescription of effective antimicrobials, resulting in improved clinical outcomes and decrease of neonatal mortality. Conventional culture-based methods for blood cultures typically provide results 48 hours post-detection of positive growth and require considerable infrastructure, staff expertise and quality management. Blood culture consumables are infrequently available and workflow challenges result in delays in feeding back results to clinicians. Furthermore, high contamination rates persist due to the intermittent availability of aseptic blood culture collection equipment. To optimise the blood culture service, it is critical to address challenges in the pre-analytic, analytic and post-analytic phases of the blood culture service.
This PhD project aims to develop, implement and evaluate quality improvement interventions to improve the blood culture service in a Neonatal Unit (NNU) at tertiary hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe. Firstly, a scoping review will be conducted to evaluate published literature on quality improvement interventions to improve blood culture services for neonatal sepsis management in LMICs. Secondly, both qualitative and quantitative methods will be used to conduct an in-depth situational analysis of the blood culture service. Lastly, quality improvement interventions will be developed, implemented and evaluated for continuous improvement of the blood culture service for neonates admitted in the NNU.
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