Table 1 Role of health staff in Tisungane Clinic at time of study
Health Cadre | Job Tasks and Responsibilities |
|---|---|
Formal health care workers | |
Physicians | 1 Clinic Coordinator (Dignitas International) conducting specialist consultations on patients with complicated ART related issues or complex diagnostic cases; daily to bi-weekly clinical mentorship of clinical officers and nurses |
1 Pediatrician (Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative) conducting specialist consultations on pediatric patients 2 days a week | |
Clinicians | 3 Clinical Officers (Dignitas International) conducting patient consultations: opportunistic Infections (OIs), staging, ART initiation, primary HIV care, inpatient consults |
Nurses | 5 Nurses (3 Ministry of Health, 2 Dignitas International) supporting clinicians: prepare and counsel people for ART initiation, monitor ART recipients, manage drug supply and dispense medication, adherence counseling, manage some minor ART toxicities, administer vincristine for Kaposi’s Sarcoma patients; supervise data collection and defaulter tracing |
Auxiliary health workers and Lay Health care providers | |
Patient Care Attendants | 1 ART Clerk, 1 ART Clerk/Counselor, 3 Nutrition Counselors and Adherence Counselors (Ministry of Health): collect and organize MOH mastercards and register patients on ART, nutrition assessments and counseling and administration of therapeutic feeding, counseling for ART initiation, adherence counseling |
Health Surveillance Assistants | District Environmental Health Office (Ministry of Health) coordinates Health Surveillance Assistants to assist with defaulter tracing in Zomba District |
Expert Patients | 7 Expert Patients (Dignitas International): patient escorting and transport, assist ART Clerk, ART initiation and adherence counseling, light nursing tasks (vital signs, anthropometry – heights, weights, MUACs), triage and patient flow, translation |