ADECA: A Novel Course for Training Paediatric Diabetes Nurse Educators in Sub-Saharan Africa

Care of children with diabetes is best delivered by a specialist multidisciplinary team of paediatric endocrinologists, diabetes nurse educators, dietitians, and psychologists. The Allied Healthcare Paediatric Diabetes Educator Course for Africa (ADECA) is the first specialised paediatric diabetes educator training programme for nurses working in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the paper was to describe the course structure and evaluation findings of the first ADECA programme.

The ADECA course is a hybrid 1-year course, organised in six phases, including online modules, in-person modules, and work-based assessments. Fifteen nurses from seven sub-Saharan African countries were selected to undertake the first course. The course was evaluated using the Kirkpatrick model, which rates the results of training courses against four levels of criteria: reaction, learning, behaviour, and results.

All nurses successfully completed the course. Overall, 100% strongly agreed that the "in-person" modules were beneficial and enjoyable, compared to 87.5% of nurses for the online modules. Eighteen months following completion, the nurses are contributing to care of children and young people with diabetes and taking a lead in training other healthcare professionals. Seventy-three percent have joined national committees, with 27% actively involved in developing national guidelines and influencing policy. Forty percent have presented at either national or international scientific conferences.

The ADECA course has successfully created a pool of competent paediatric diabetes nurse educators who can support children and their families as well as train other healthcare personnel in diabetes care and become future faculty members. This bespoke course can be adapted for use in other low-income countries.