Quality Improvement Assistant at Jhpiego - John Hopkins University

Location: Abakaliki, Ebonyi

Overview

• HARMONY Care (Holistic Approach to Reaching Mothers with Obstetric, Neonatal and Youth Care) is a project implemented by Jhpiego in Ebonyi State, with support from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The project aims to improve access to integrated, respectful and continuous care for pregnant women, mothers, newborns and infants by strengthening service delivery, quality of care, community-facility linkages, referral systems and government ownership.
• Three Quality Improvement Assistants will be engaged and assigned to defined clusters of HARMONY Care supported health facilities and their catchment communities in Ebonyi State. Each Assistant will support the Quality Improvement Specialist, MNCH Technical Advisor and other project team members to ensure that clients referred to supported facilities receive appropriate and timely care, complete their referrals, remain engaged in care and are followed up throughout pregnancy, childbirth, the postnatal period and infancy.
• The Assistants will also provide routine implementation monitoring and follow-up for HARMONY Care approaches across community and facility platforms, using standardised tools and reporting arrangements.

Responsibilities
Client referral, retention and continuity of care:

• Within the assigned cluster, track community-to-facility and facility-to-facility referrals using approved project and government tools, and confirm that referred clients reach the receiving facility, receive the required service and, where necessary, complete onward referral.
• Support functional referral, counter-referral and feedback mechanisms between community structures and health facilities, including timely communication of referral outcomes and follow-up actions.
• Track missed appointments, incomplete referrals and clients at risk of loss to follow-up, and support timely re-engagement through approved community and facility channels while maintaining consent, confidentiality and safeguarding standards.
• Identify barriers affecting access, referral completion, retention and continuity of care, and promptly escalate unresolved issues to the Quality Improvement Specialist or relevant technical lead.

Implementation and quality improvement support:

• Conduct routine supportive monitoring visits across assigned facilities and communities with relevant project staff, and monitor the implementation, integration and fidelity of G-ANC, FPNC, G-PNC, nutrition, POCUS, PMH, quality-of-care interventions, referral systems and other approved HARMONY Care approaches.
• Use approved checklists, observation guides, dashboards, run charts and action trackers to identify gaps, document findings and follow up agreed corrective actions with facility and community teams.
• Support facility teams to implement quality improvement actions related to service readiness, respectful care, client flow, documentation, client experience and continuity of care.
• Monitor the availability and appropriate use of required registers, job aids, equipment and implementation materials, and report shortages, non-functionality or other constraints promptly.

Community-facility coordination and demand generation:

• Provide support in strengthening coordination among supported facilities, community-based health workers, ward development committees, community leaders and other approved community structures involved in mobilisation, referral and follow-up.
• Support demand-generation activities that provide accurate information and link eligible women, mothers, newborns and infants to appropriate HARMONY Care services and scheduled contacts.
• Maintain updated directories and referral maps for assigned communities, facilities and higher-level referral points, and compile feedback on access, care experience and continuity for action by relevant technical leads.

Data, planning, coordination and reporting:

• Collate and update approved client-tracking, referral, implementation and quality improvement tools; conduct basic completeness and consistency checks; and work with the MEL team to support timely data availability and submission.
• Maintain assigned programme-management tools for the designated cluster, including facility and stakeholder directories, activity trackers, scorecards and action logs, and document implementation challenges, lessons and promising practices.
• Support preparation of workplans, field schedules, activity plans and related budgets; track implementation progress and action points; and escalate delays, risks and unresolved issues.
• Contribute to routine reports, presentations, meeting notes, human-interest stories and technical materials, and support meetings, workshops, field visits, stakeholder coordination and organised records management.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree, Higher National Diploma or recognised professional qualification in Nursing, Midwifery, Community Health, Public Health, Health Education or another relevant health-related field.
• A clinical or community-health background is preferred.
• Minimum of three years of relevant post-qualification experience supporting MNCH, community health, quality improvement, health-facility strengthening, referral systems or related public health programmes.
• Demonstrated experience working with health facilities and community structures on client referral, follow-up, continuity of care, demand generation or service uptake.
• Experience supporting programme monitoring, data collation, action tracking, field documentation and report preparation, preferably within government health structures in Nigeria.
• Current professional registration or licence, where required by the candidate’s discipline.

Preferred Qualifications
Knowledge, Skills and Competencies:

• Good understanding of the maternal, newborn and infant continuum of care and community-facility referral pathways.
• Ability to identify implementation gaps, provide respectful and solution-focused feedback, and follow through on agreed actions without assuming formal supervisory authority.
• Strong interpersonal, organisational, communication, documentation and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage an assigned facility cluster, coordinate effectively with the other Assistants and work with clients, providers, community actors, government counterparts and multidisciplinary teams.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint; familiarity with Kobo Toolbox, ODK or similar platforms is an advantage.
• Ability to handle client information confidentially and willingness to undertake regular travel within Ebonyi State and occasional travel outside the state.