Kybele Assists Ghana’s Second Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

By Dr. Nathan Tighe, Kybele team member

In January 2018, Dr. Alan Woodruff, Dr. Nate Tighe and nurse Melina Burns were invited to provide an educational program for the staff of a brand new Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. Built with funding from the Rebecca Foundation (Sponsored by Ghana’s First Lady), the new unit will be the second dedicated unit devoted to the care of critically ill children in Ghana. Over 10 days, the team met with the handpicked selection of physicians and nurses, and through traditional lecture, small groups and simulation, the group covered the basics of pediatric critical care, communication, culture of safety, evidence-based medicine and quality improvement. At the end of the course, the participants’ capstone activity was the development of their first protocol as a unit. They did their own literature search, decided what practices to adopt and formalized a process for prevention of ventilator-associated events for their new unit.

The team is excited to return this year to continue its work. With additional support from Kybele, they will be returning to the now-open unit to assist with real-time bedside coaching and just-in-time education in the clinical work environment. In addition, they have organized two platforms using the international messaging application WhatsApp to support the physician and nursing teams of the unit when they cannot be there in person. Kybele is excited to expand our impact with this exciting new partnership!