ACNM Consultant

SHOPS Plus/NEPAL

Proposed SOW for Part time local consultant

Opportunity type:  6 months contract

LOE: Approximately 8-10 days per month.

Background:

Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) Plus is USAID’s flagship initiative in private sector health. SHOPS Plus is managed by Abt Associates and its partner for quality assurance in reproductive health is  the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM).   In Nepal, USAID funds SHOPS Plus to provide technical assistance to the Nepal CRS Company (CRS), a national social marketing organization.  One of the key activities is strengthening the quality of care among  providers in CRS’s Sangini family planning network. ACNM conducted an initial assessment of CRS’s quality assurance approaches and developed a series of recommendations based on assessment findings. SHOPS Plus has supported CRS to implement those recommendations, starting with hiring a Quality Assurance Manager to oversee new quality assurance activities. 

Framework/Approach: 

The initial assessment found that in-country mentoring is critical for supporting the newly hired Quality Assurance (QA) Manager and developing the QA program. The local consultant will work closely with both the CRS QA Manager and ACNM consultant to support implementation of assessment recommendations and strengthen the Sangini QA program. The consultant will primarily to assist with providing on-going mentoring and on-the-job training for new CRS QA Manager under the guidance of ACNM staff.

Skills and Experience:

English and Nepali language proficiency; clinical background in reproductive health; experience with healthcare related quality assurance activities/processes; and excellent communication skills, including the ability to persuade and motivate CRS of the importance of quality improvement measures.

Activities:

Regularly meet with CRS QA Manager to review progress and provide technical support as she develops and implements QA program activities described in ACNM SOW. Specifically, consultant will support QA Manager to: 

• Revise Technical Support Visit (TSV)  data collection checklist and TSV data reporting
• Develop QA program ‘Guidelines’ (policy and procedures or operations manual)
• Develop job performance expectations and evaluation methods for Quality Assurance Officers (QAO)
• Plan and implement on-going support activities for QAOs
• Implement activities to strengthen the capacity of NFCC trainers who provide Sangini Certification Training for providers 

Regularly communicate via email with ACNM consultant to report on progress and plan for next steps

Meet and work with ACNM consultant when in-country as required

Travel with the QA Manager to other cities in Nepal during supervisory visits of QAO

Interested candidates should send a CV and a cover letter highlighting their motivation and experience for the assignment. This information should be sent to:

1. christinehunter.cnm@gmail.com
2. KMartin@acnm.org
3. Gopal_Bhujel@abtassoc.com
4. JeffreyBarnes@abtassoc.com

Interested candidates should submit this information before November 17th 2017.

SHOPS Plus will only contact shortlisted candidates.