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All posts by The S.T.A.B.L.E. Program

Instructor Communications

Orientation to Support Instructor Training

Dear S.T.A.B.L.E Instructors,

We would like to announce that the Orientation to Support Instructor process has been updated for the 7th edition.

The basic process is similar to the 6th edition, with some notable exceptions:    

  • All Instructors teaching the course must have taught two 7th edition Learner courses, prior to assisting with the Orientation process.
  • The Lead instructor responsible for the course will be required to submit an electronic application PRIOR to the course.
  • Support Instructor candidates must meet our Instructor qualifications and testing requirements.
  • All Instructors and Support Instructor candidates must utilize a 7th edition Instructor manual during the course.

If you want to train a S.T.A.B.L.E. Support Instructor be sure to review the Orientation to Support link in the Instructor portal, to ensure your candidate is accepted.

Thank you,

Kris Karlsen PhD, NNP-BC, FAAN

Program Author/Director

Instructor Communications

Sugar module Post Test B changed

Periodically, we will need to change test questions. This change does not affect the post-test answer key. Please discard any previously printed Sugar module Post Test B and use this updated one. In addition, going forward, we will add a date in the footer of any test that is updated. In this case, you will see the following: 7th Edition Curriculum. Jul.01.25  

Sugar Module 

Post Test B – question 3.

Rationale: Item b was changed from a Heart rate of 175 beats per minute at rest (which, at rest, may be a neurogenic response to hypoglycemia and we wanted to avoid confusion by having two correct answers) to 160 beats per minute at rest (which is the upper limit of normal). The correct answer, a, is mild hypothermia, which is listed as a sign of hypoglycemia in Sugar Module on page 42, Table 1.4. Signs of hypoglycemia.

Thank you,

Kris Karlsen PhD, NNP-BC, FAAN

Program Author/Director

Instructor Communications

Tests Updated December 18 – Please Read

Tests Replaced December 18 – Please Read

At times, tests are replaced because of valuable feedback from our Instructors. The following 7th edition post-tests were replaced on December 18, 2025. These exchanges do not affect the post-test answer keys. If you have printed either of these two tests before December 18, please discard those tests and use the new ones.

Sugar Module Post-Test A – question 7 was changed.

Temperature Module Post-Test D – question 8 was changed.

Instructor Communications

Empty your Cache if having trouble launching slide modules

We recently made some minor changes to the 7th edition course slides and have uploaded new files to the website. If you previously opened a slide module and now it won’t open, then the first step is to clear your cache because your browser may be looking for an older version. The process to clear your cache varies by browser type (Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome) so search for instructions as needed.

  • If using Google Chrome, these steps worked for us: Go to the 3 small dots in the upper right, then select Delete browsing data. Change the Time range to: All time. Then, place a checkmark on “cached images and files.” If you don’t want to delete your Browsing history, uncheck that item.
  • Restart your computer, then login to the Instructor Portal. Try opening the slide module(s) again.

If you still can’t open one or more modules after clearing your cache, then please provide a detailed summary of the steps you took and the problem you encountered so we can help. Use the Contact Us form on the website to send us an email.

International Activities

Thailand

INTERNATIONAL TRIP REPORT – Thailand January 2024

S.T.A.B.L.E. Learner Course, January 24 to 25, 2024

Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital

Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand

 

S.T.A.B.L.E. Instructor: Wichest Boonyapredee, MD, FAAP

Community hospital, Department of Pediatrics (honorary member)

Munster, Indiana  

 

ABOUT THIS MISSION TRIP

I was traveling on behalf of what organization or humanitarian group:

Thai Physician Association of America (TPAA)

Thai Physician Association of America Foundation

All Thai physicians in the US belong to these two organizations. Medical missions are being done through TPAA by medical education and donation of medical equipment. TPAAF is a nonprofit organization and people can donate to their school education fund through TPAAF. TPAAF provides operation funds to TPAA and Red Cross.

The goal of this trip was to provide medical education for nurses and doctors in Thailand by teaching S.T.A.B.L.E. classes including the new cardiac S.T.A.B.L.E. as well as donations of much needed medical equipment to the hospital and enable many TPAA members to share their experience with the medical staff of various departments in the hospital.

Medical equipment donations received by Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital – 

Transport incubator TR200, Masimo pulse oximeter, Syringe pumps, NST, and Infusion pumps.

TPAA Goals

  • Provide medical education for nurses and doctors in Thailand.
  • Donation of medical equipment to the hospitals in Thailand.
  • Donation for scholarship fund for master’s degree at Harvard school of Public Health for Thai students.
  • Donation for education scholarship fund for poor students in Thailand. 
  • Disaster relief fund for earthquake, flood victims in US, and anywhere in the world.

People are often interested in knowing more about the region you visited. Please describe the community where S.T.A.B.L.E. was taught. 

Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital is located in the southeast of Thailand 261 km from Bangkok population 2.7 million. It is the largest regional hospital in Thailand providing medical education for medical students, interns, and residents as well as patient care in all specialties. 5000 births annually, three neonatologists covering the 40 bed NICU with the ability to perform therapeutic hypothermia for HIE. It has a total of 1387 hospital beds. 

How many students attended your course and what were their credentials?  

There were 205 attendees – 51 RNs, 154 physicians.

Describe some of the nursing and medical challenges being faced by the S.T.A.B.L.E. course attendees with regard to provision of day-to-day neonatal care: 

Nurses may have some difficulty in English language, so the class was taught as much as possible in the Thai language. The transport incubator received with this trip was just in time as the one on site had just gone out of commission even after repeated repair. 

How do you envision The S.T.A.B.L.E. Program will help the health care providers you taught?

The S.T.A.B.L.E. Program provides an excellent review for common neonatal problems with reminders so the provider does not miss the diagnoses that could lead to serious consequence by providing consistent ways to use the mnemonic enhancing memory and recall. This provides confidence in stabilizing the sick babies before transport. The cardiac module was very useful for all staff including physicians as a learning tool for understanding the anatomy of CHD as well as diagnosing and managing CHD correctly and safely. 

How others can help with your humanitarian efforts

We welcome any donation to TPAAF, our non-profit organization. https://tpaaf.us/

Kris Karlsen (STABLE Program Author) is very kind, very generous and very supportive. She gave us a good discount for the manuals to help our medical mission in Thailand, we are very thankful and very appreciative.

In summary, I and our team cherished the whole experience and found that all the students were very excited, attentive, and very happy. 

Thank you very much very much Kris, Beth, Mason, and S.T.A.B.L.E program for the creation of this wonderful neonatal education program.

Materials donated from The S.T.A.B.L.E. Program for your course: 

6th Edition Learner Manuals

2nd Edition Cardiac books. 

6th Edition Learner Course slides on USB. 

2nd Edition Cardiac slide program subscription

Before the class

STABLE Maharat

Class completed

Equipment Donation

 Dr Pichaya Thanomsingh – Course Organizer (2nd from the left) 

Dr. Boonyapredee and his wife 

Gifts of Appreciation given to Dr. Boonyapredee

International Activities

Ghana

 

THE S.T.A.B.L.E. PROGRAM

INTERNATIONAL TRIP REPORT – May 2023

 

1. Location where S.T.A.B.L.E. Learner Course was taught

              Tamale, Ghana

2. Report Submitted by:

              Geralyn Sue Prullage DNP, APN, NNP-BC

              Tamale Teaching Hospital

3. COURSE INFORMATION

               S.T.A.B.L.E. Learner Course: May 30 and 31st, 2023

               Tamale Teaching Hospital

               S.T.A.B.L.E. Instructor:  Geralyn Sue Prullage, DNP, APN, NNP-BC

                                                        Board Member of Council of International Neonatal Nurses

                                                        Clinical Educator of Community of Neonatal Nursing Practice

 

               Who attended the Learner Course?

              4 BSc Neonatal Nurse Specialists and 9 General Nurses

 

               Materials donated from S.T.A.B.L.E. for your course:

              S.T.A.B.L.E. Learner Course Slides 

              Physical Exam and Gestational Age Assessment Slide Program

 

4. ABOUT THIS TRIP

I was traveling on behalf of the Council of International Neonatal Nursing [COINN] (coinnurses.org). This is an organization that has brought together over 5000 neonatal nurses across the world. The purpose of the trip was to train nurses to be experts in the field and to be preceptors.

 

People are often interested in knowing more about the region you visited. Please describe the community where S.T.A.B.L.E. was taught.

Tamale is in Northern Ghana. It is the largest city in the Northern region of Ghana. Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) has a busy neonatal unit that has doctors, pediatricians, advanced practice nurses, medical officers, and house officers. The unit has a well-run kangaroo mother care unit. TTH is the referral center for the northern region.

 

Describe some of the nursing and medical challenges being faced by the S.T.A.B.L.E. course attendees with regard to the provision of day-to-day neonatal care.

The unit had several actual CPAP machines, but they did not function well due to poor oxygen outlets and no oxygen tanks available. So, most of the babies that needed CPAP were placed on the “traditional” homemade CPAP. There were not enough incubators or overhead warmers for each admission to have their own incubator or overhead warmer. There is no actual transport system. Parents must pay for any transport needed and finances are difficult. So, often babies arrive on the back of motorcycles or the tricycle (a motorized golf cart adapted with seating). Every piece of equipment needed must be paid for by the family.

 

How do you envision The S.T.A.B.L.E. Program will help the healthcare providers you taught?

The participants are to be the preceptors for new employees and students. The understanding of hypoglycemia and thermoregulation is paramount. I envision that they have a better understanding of the identification and treatment of the things we talked about in the STABLE course. We actually admitted a baby with a subgaleal hemorrhage, and the participants were able to understand what was going on and were eager to provide appropriate care.

 

People standing behind a table smiling     Students taking the STABLE mixed module (end of course) quiz
This is the group who graduated from the course at TTH. Photo taken on the last day of the STABLE course.

 

Students taking the STABLE mixed module (end of course) quiz
Students taking the STABLE mixed module (end of course) quiz

  

 

International Activities

Zambia

S.T.A.B.L.E. International Activity in Zambia

Wakako Eklund DNP, APRN, NNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN

April and May 2023

During the month of April and early May 2023, the Advance Practice Neonatal Nursing students at the University of Zambia received a series of respiratory pathophysiology and assessment lectures given by Wakako Eklund who has been a S.T.A.B.L.E. instructor for many years.

The school year began in March 2023, and we have students from Zambia but also from Rwanda and Botswana this year. The students from Botswana are supported by their Health Ministry to improve the newborn outcomes.

Given that not everyone in the class is well-familiar with the level 3 NICU and common procedural practices related to management of respiratory care, I utilized the procedure slide decks (Chest Tube insertion, Positive Pressure Ventilation, Needle aspiration, and Intubation) and zoom-recorded the lecture to demonstrate how these procedures are completed.

The images and the contents that these slide sets cannot be easily replicated, and I appreciate the quality of the slide decks that are highly valued by the students and also by us, the volunteer faculty team. We appreciate the immense generosity that is extended by S.T.A.B.L.E. to make this possible for these students who are often without textbooks and other resources that we in high resource countries take for granted. The students are looking forward to taking the full S.T.A.B.L.E. course later this summer.