Assessing the Impact of Mentorship on Rwandan Nurses’ and Midwives’ Knowledge and Self-Efficacy in Managing Postpartum Hemorrhage

Despite recent advances in medical technology and research, postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) remains the top universal cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Factors underlying PPH include the inconsistency in recognition and timely treatment of women experiencing PPH, which suggests the importance of healthcare professionals’ mentorship about PPH. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of mentorship on nurses’ and midwives’ knowledge and self-efficacy in managing PPH. The pre and post study design recruited 141 nurses and midwives working in the labour and delivery department in selected health centers from the North Province of Rwanda. At post-mentorship, 123 nurses and midwives had completed the study. Using instruments adapted to knowledge and self-efficacy in managing PPH, a paired t-test was applied to estimate differences in scores between pre-and post-mentorship on participants’ knowledge and self-efficacy in managing PPH. The results indicate an increase in knowledge scores from 68% prior to mentorship up to 87% (95% CI [15.65, 21.21] and self-efficacy from 6.9 to 9.5 (95% CI [2.3, 3.08] average score out of the maximum score of ten. The correlation between knowledge and self-efficacy was moderately positive at pre-mentorship (r= .214; p=.002) and strongly positive at post-mentorship (r= .585; p\u3c .001). The frequency of mentorship visits was associated with post-mentorship knowledge scores (r=. 539; p\u3c .001) and post-mentorship self-efficacy (r= .623; p\u3c .001) as well. The results from this research will inform further studies and practitioners to develop a model to support knowledge and self-efficacy in managing PPH