Background: Critical care services reflect the healthcare services they support. In many low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs), balancing a sparse workforce, resources and competing demands to fund services, is a significant challenge when providing critical care. In Zambia, critical care has evolved significantly over the past 10 years. This article explores the provision of critical care services and the review and validation of a critical care nursing course. Objectives: To review the literature relating to critical care nursing in sub-Saharan Africa to support a review and validation of the current critical care nursing course and to prepare a framework for a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in critical care nursing programme in Zambia. Results: A search of the published literature identified key themes, including a paucity of evidence, limited educational opportunities, a lack of national and international opportunities, protocols and standards, and the challenges of providing technical services. The subsequent review and validation took account of these themes. Conclusion: This project has had an impact on improving critical care nurses' knowledge and skills and provided the foundations for the BSc in critical care nursing.

Background: The postpartum period is one of the most vulnerable and critical periods for both the mother and the newborn. Inadequate care during this period may result in death or disability as well as missed opportunities to promote health behaviours. Aims: To determine the household factors that are associated with use of postnatal care services by mothers. Methods: An electronic search was conducted, including databases such as PubMed, Hinari, Google Scholar, Cochrane library, Science Direct and BioMed Central, using the following search terms: postpartum care, postnatal care, household behaviours, challenges, barriers, use and postpartum women. Findings: All the reviewed articles revealed that postpartum care services were not fully used by postpartum women and household factors played a big role. Background characteristics of women such as age, marital status, parity, level of education and religion were also found to influence uptake. Conclusions: Household factors, such as accessibility; awareness and knowledge; socioeconomic status and financial difficulties; women's empowerment; traditional beliefs and cultural practices and background characteristics have been found to play a significant role in the use of postnatal services by postpartum mothers

Aim To develop and evaluate a Zambian context‐specific mentorship model that supports registered nurses completing emergency, trauma and critical care programmes in Zambia. Background In Zambia, emergency and trauma and critical care nursing are relatively new specialties, with education and training programmes less than a decade old. A train the trainer mentorship programme was developed and delivered at two colleges of nursing. Ethics approval was gained in both Zambia and the UK. Sources of evidence Documentary data analysis and focus groups were used. Focus groups included stakeholders and nurses in practice who had completed the train the trainer programme and were using the mentorship model. Discussion The critical review of the literature revealed there was a paucity of evidence on the role of mentors in critical care. However, national documentation identified that most post basic education programmes are at Diploma Level with limited content that focuses on bedside teaching, mentorship and assessment content. Conclusion Feedback from representatives attending the stakeholder workshops and focus groups which included participants who had completed the training programme enabled the mentorship model and workshop to be developed and evaluated. Implications for nursing practice Nurses are the backbone of healthcare systems in Africa and the world. Mentorship and assessment in practice enables nurses to develop the competence and skills to lead practice, support peers and junior colleagues. Implications for nursing policy This paper has identified the need for a context‐specific formalised mentorship model to support specialist practice and this project has provided the foundations for mentorship of emergency, trauma and critical care nurses in Zambia.

Background: many undergraduate student nurses have the opportunity to undertake an international elective—that is, a placement in another country. The benefits of undertaking an elective include developing cultural competence, understanding different healthcare systems and experiencing a different culture. Aim: the aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a faculty-structured international travel elective to Zambia for undergraduate UK nursing students. Methods: a descriptive phenomenology approach was used to discover and explore the students' experiences of their elective. Findings: 6 students participated in semi-structured interviews. Themes that emerged included the importance of preparing for the elective, different nursing cultures, realities and patient safety concerns. Conclusion: this study found that students involved in an international elective to Zambia overall had a positive experience but did report some challenges; the findings contribute to the body of evidence relating to international electives.

Background: A cesarean section is a major obstetric surgical procedure performed for the purpose of delivering a live baby when vaginal delivery would put the mother and the baby at risk due to complications of pregnancy, labour and delivery. Although caesarean section is a life saving procedure, it is associated with a number of risks or problems in the postoperative period. The aim of the study was to understand the Midwives' perspective on the care of postpartum mothers who had cesarean section at the University Teaching Hospital-Women and Newborn in Lusaka District. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional survey was conducted at the University Teaching Hospital-Women and Newborn in Lusaka. 51 Midwives working in postnatal wards were consecutively selected to participate in the study. Data was collected using a self administered questionnaire with a 4 point Likert scale and also some closed and open ended questions. SPSS version 20 statistical package was used to analyse data, expressed as descriptive summary measures. Results: All the 51 Midwives were female and they scored themselves highly on a 4 point Likert scale as always performing all the immediate post-operative care on the postpartum mothers who had a caesarean section while the score was much lower during the subsequent post-operative period. Staffing levels and medical-surgical materials were found to be low and affect care of Postpartum mothers (P-0.050). The majority (94.2%) of the Midwives also indicated that C-section mothers were not given any form of written materials or standardized instructions to take home as reference material during the