Delphine Boitano

Operation Smile
USA

Abstract Title: One-Year Follow-Up of a Regional Nursing Education Program: Sustained Impact on Cleft and Non-cleft Patient Care Across Three International Cohorts

Biography:

Delphine graduated in 2025 from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Global Health from the Keck School of Medicine and is passionate about advancing equitable access to safe surgery. Delphine Boitano is a Junior Global Surgery Research Fellow at Operation Smile and aspiring physician. Her work at Operation Smile includes research on the impact of medical education programs across low- and middle-income countries and supporting initiatives such as the Global Surgery Speaker Series and Operation Smile's Women in Medicine team.

Research Interest:

Upskilling nurses in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is a critical component to strengthening surgical capacity. While immediate skill acquisition is commonly reported, quantification of long-term impact and secondary workforce evaluation remains limited. This study evaluates the one-year impact of three regional nursing conferences on cleft and non-cleft patients and knowledge sharing among nurses in LMICs. Regional Nursing Trainings were held from February to September 2024 in Ethiopia, Peru, and India. Participants were surveyed immediately post-conference and after one year. Surveys collected data on self-reported confidence, program experience, and metrics to evaluate patient impact. Comparative analysis across the two timepoints was performed. A total of 124 nursing providers representing 24 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Eastern Europe participated at baseline, including OR nurses (44%), Pre/Post-op nurses (39%), and PACU nurses (17%). After one-year, 29 nursing providers completed the survey (38% SSA, 45% LAC, and 17% Asia). The baseline patient impact multipliers were 12,935 cleft and 91,157 non-cleft patients per year. At follow-up, participants reported impacting 654 p cleft and 13,334 non-cleft patients per year. Within one year, participants reported training a cumulative total of 556 additional nurses using skills gained (mean 19.17 ± 19.65 nurses per participant). At baseline, 98% of participants reported increased confidence, which was sustained at follow-up. Regional nursing conferences are scalable models for strengthening multidisciplinary surgical systems through improving nursing skills for both cleft and non-cleft patients and facilitating secondary workforce education.

Keywords: Education, global health, workforce development, cleft