{"title":"Bridging the Gap: Challenges and Opportunities for Advancing Cleft Nursing in Sub-Saharan Africa.","authors":"Vamsi C Mohan, Winston R Owens, Rona J Breese","doi":"10.1097/PRS.0000000000012367","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Nurses are integral members of the multidisciplinary cleft team, providing care throughout a child's treatment course. However, in resource-limited regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), unique challenges can hinder the delivery of high-quality nursing care, while also presenting opportunities to advance cleft nursing practice. This article highlights the challenges nurses face and explores opportunities to improve nursing care in SSA.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A literature review, recorded feedback from Smile Train's Nursing Care Saves Lives program (a cleft-specific nursing training program), and the senior author's (R.J.B.) experience were used to depict the challenges encountered and the subsequent opportunities to enhance nursing care in SSA.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Challenges preventing optimal delivery of cleft-specific nursing care include workforce shortages, nursing education and professional development, resource limitations, and health care hierarchy. However, improvements in interprofessional education and collaboration, nurse availability, medical equipment allocation, and professional empowerment can mitigate the obstacles nurses encounter, allowing for enhanced comprehensive cleft care within SSA.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Overcoming the obstacles that nurses experience in providing care to patients with a cleft lip and/or palate requires discussions on expectations for nursing practice (eg, nurse to patient ratios, frequency of monitoring, and required skill sets) that must occur at the highest levels of hospital and national planning. While workforce shortages are a well-documented challenge in SSA and will require long-term, multisectoral solutions, it remains essential to prioritize safe care delivery. Targeted improvements in nurse staffing allocation, even within resource-constrained systems, can make a measurable difference in cleft surgical outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":20128,"journal":{"name":"Plastic and reconstructive surgery","volume":"156 4S-2","pages":"5S-13S"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Plastic and reconstructive surgery","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0000000000012367","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/9/25 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SURGERY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Nurses are integral members of the multidisciplinary cleft team, providing care throughout a child's treatment course. However, in resource-limited regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), unique challenges can hinder the delivery of high-quality nursing care, while also presenting opportunities to advance cleft nursing practice. This article highlights the challenges nurses face and explores opportunities to improve nursing care in SSA.
Methods: A literature review, recorded feedback from Smile Train's Nursing Care Saves Lives program (a cleft-specific nursing training program), and the senior author's (R.J.B.) experience were used to depict the challenges encountered and the subsequent opportunities to enhance nursing care in SSA.
Results: Challenges preventing optimal delivery of cleft-specific nursing care include workforce shortages, nursing education and professional development, resource limitations, and health care hierarchy. However, improvements in interprofessional education and collaboration, nurse availability, medical equipment allocation, and professional empowerment can mitigate the obstacles nurses encounter, allowing for enhanced comprehensive cleft care within SSA.
Conclusions: Overcoming the obstacles that nurses experience in providing care to patients with a cleft lip and/or palate requires discussions on expectations for nursing practice (eg, nurse to patient ratios, frequency of monitoring, and required skill sets) that must occur at the highest levels of hospital and national planning. While workforce shortages are a well-documented challenge in SSA and will require long-term, multisectoral solutions, it remains essential to prioritize safe care delivery. Targeted improvements in nurse staffing allocation, even within resource-constrained systems, can make a measurable difference in cleft surgical outcomes.
期刊介绍：
For more than 70 years Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® has been the one consistently excellent reference for every specialist who uses plastic surgery techniques or works in conjunction with a plastic surgeon. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® , the official journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, is a benefit of Society membership, and is also available on a subscription basis.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® brings subscribers up-to-the-minute reports on the latest techniques and follow-up for all areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery, including breast reconstruction, experimental studies, maxillofacial reconstruction, hand and microsurgery, burn repair, cosmetic surgery, as well as news on medicolegal issues. The cosmetic section provides expanded coverage on new procedures and techniques and offers more cosmetic-specific content than any other journal. All subscribers enjoy full access to the Journal''s website, which features broadcast quality videos of reconstructive and cosmetic procedures, podcasts, comprehensive article archives dating to 1946, and additional benefits offered by the newly-redesigned website.
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