NEWS | ADPCN, APSOM to integrate EINC in nursing and midwifery curricula

Academic institutions and midwives may have already shared EINC with their students in the form of seminars and conventions, but both the Association of Deans of Philippine Colleges of Nursing (ADPCN) and Association of Phillipine Schools Of Midwifery (APSOM) are truly embracing the Unang Yakap spirit: Both academic umbrella organizations are preparing for its systematic integration in the pre-service curricula through a series of workshops to be supported by the UNICEF component of the Joint Program on Maternal and Neonatal Health (JPMNH). This crucial component of the strategy to institutionalize EINC will ensure the transfer of knowledge so that future health professionals in government and private health facilities consistently perform the evidence-based steps and avoid the harmful practices in maternal and neonatal care. 

 Commitment of APSOM and APDCN to integrate EINC in nursing and midwife curriculum cements the goal of such precedent efforts such as the implementation of DOH Administrative Orders 2008-0029 and 2009-0025

APSOM and ADPCN plan to convene department and curriculum chairpersons in all their member-schools and –colleges to stage the plan nationwide. Implementation will be overseen by DOH, UNICEF, UNFPA, and WHO. The Technical Panels on Nursing and Midwifery Education of the Commission on Higher Education are also expected to be involved, as well as representatives from the Association of Nursing Service Administrators of the Philippines (ANSAP), Maternal and Child Nurses Association of the Philippines (MCNAP), Critical Care Nurses Association of the Philippines (CCNAP), and the Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines (ORNAP).

Their commitment cements the goal of such precedent efforts such as the implementation of DOH Administrative Orders 2008-0029 and 2009-0025 which have to do with the transfer of knowledge on maternal and neonatal care to help curb both maternal and newborn mortality.  Optimism should not be conflated with ease, however. While green lights seem to be flashing everywhere for the integration of EINC into the curriculum, integration is not without its challenges.  The mismatch between actual environment and classroom theory is projected to be a hurdle they will need to leap over. Hospital policy reforms, for example, in line with the Mother-Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, Milk Code compliance, inclusion in regulatory and licensing requirements, and the scale-up of EINC implementation itself should all be happening simultaneously for optimum results. To compromise any of those is to compromise the whole of maternal and neonatal care. These projected problems do not seem to dampen their spirits, however, as the enthusiasm of the APSOM and ADPCN officers only seems to grow—they have even shown interest in followup activities they could bring to their respective nursing/midwifery chapters or base hospitals—with no indication whatsoever of waning.