scholarly journals Developing a specialist children’s nursing workforce in sub-Saharan Africa: a descriptive programme evaluation

BMC Nursing ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ruthe ◽  
Natasha North
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Education ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Course Completion ◽  
Programme Evaluation ◽  
Nursing Workforce ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Universal Health

Abstract Background Achieving Universal Health Coverage in low and lower-middle income countries requires an estimated additional five and a quarter million nurses. Despite an increasing focus on specialist nursing workforce development, the specialist children’s workforce in most African countries falls well below recommended densities. The Child Nursing Practice Development Initiative was established with the aim of building the children’s nursing workforce in Southern and Eastern Africa, and Ghana. The purpose of this evaluation was to enable scrutiny of programme activities conducted between 2008 and 2018 to inform programme review and where possible to identify wider lessons of potential interest in relation to specialist nursing workforce strengthening initiatives. Methods The study took the form of a descriptive programme evaluation. Data analysed included quantitative programme data and contextual information from documentary sources. Anonymised programme data covering student enrolments between January 2008 and December 2018 were analysed. Findings were member-checked for accuracy. Results The programme recorded 348 enrolments in 11 years, with 75% of students coming from South Africa and 25% from other sub-Saharan African countries. With a course completion rate of 94, 99% of known alumni were still working in Africa at the end of 2018. Most graduates were located at top-tier (specialist) public hospital facilities. Nine percent of known alumni were found to be working in education, with 54% of graduates at centres that offer or plan to offer children’s nursing education. Conclusion The programme has made a quantifiable, positive and sustained contribution to the capacity of the specialist clinical and educational children’s nursing workforce in nine African countries. Data suggest there may be promising approaches within programme design and delivery in relation to very high course completion rates and the retention of graduates in service which merit further consideration. Outputs from this single programme are however modest when compared to the scale of need. Greater clarity around the vision and role of specialist children’s nurses and costed plans for workforce development are needed for investment in specialist children’s nursing education to realise its potential in relation to achievement of Universal Health Coverage.

scholarly journals Developing a specialist children’s nursing workforce in sub-Saharan Africa: a descriptive programme evaluation.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ruthe ◽  
Natasha Lee North
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Education ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Course Completion ◽  
Programme Evaluation ◽  
Nursing Workforce ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Universal Health

Abstract Background: Achieving Universal Health Coverage in low and lower-middle income countries requires an estimated additional five and a quarter million nurses. Despite an increasing focus on specialist nursing workforce development, specialist children’s workforce in most African countries falls well below recommended densities. The Child Nursing Practice Development Initiative was established with the aim of building the children’s nursing workforce in Southern and Eastern Africa, and Ghana. The purpose of this evaluation was to enable scrutiny of programme activities conducted between 2008 and 2018 to inform programme review and where possible to identify wider lessons of potential interest in relation to specialist nursing workforce strengthening initiatives. Methods: The study took the form of a descriptive programme evaluation. Data analysed included quantitative programme data and contextual information from documentary sources. Anonymised programme data covering student enrolments between January 2008 and December 2018 were analysed. Findings were member-checked for accuracy.Results: The programme recorded 348 enrolments in 11 years, with 75% of students coming from South Africa and 25% from other sub-Saharan African countries. With a course completion rate of 94%, 99% of known alumni were still working in Africa at the end of 2018. Most graduates were located at top-tier (specialist) public hospital facilities. Nine percent of known alumni were found to be working in education, with 54% of graduates at centres that offer or plan to offer children’s nursing education. Conclusion: The programme has made a quantifiable, positive and sustained contribution to the capacity of the specialist clinical and educational children’s nursing workforce in nine African countries. Data suggest there may be promising approaches within programme design and delivery in relation to very high course completion rates and the retention of graduates in service which merit further consideration. Outputs from this single programme are however modest when compared to the scale of need. Greater clarity around the vision and role of specialist children’s nurses and costed plans for workforce development are needed for investment in specialist children’s nursing education to realise its potential in relation to achievement of Universal Health Coverage.

scholarly journals Developing a specialist children’s nursing workforce in sub-Saharan Africa: a descriptive programme evaluation.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ruthe ◽  
Natasha Lee North
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Education ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Course Completion ◽  
Programme Evaluation ◽  
Nursing Workforce ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Universal Health

Abstract Background: Achieving Universal Health Coverage in low and lower-middle income countries requires an estimated additional five and a quarter million nurses. Despite an increasing focus on specialist nursing workforce development, specialist children’s workforce in most African countries falls well below recommended densities. The Child Nursing Practice Development Initiative was established with the aim of building the children’s nursing workforce in Southern and Eastern Africa, and Ghana. The purpose of this evaluation was to enable scrutiny of programme activities conducted between 2008 and 2018 to inform programme review and where possible to identify wider lessons of potential interest in relation to specialist nursing workforce strengthening initiatives. Methods: The study took the form of a descriptive programme evaluation. Data analysed included quantitative programme data and contextual information from documentary sources. Anonymised programme data covering student enrolments between January 2008 and December 2018 were analysed. Findings were member-checked for accuracy. Results: The programme recorded 348 enrolments in 11 years, with 75% of students coming from South Africa and 25% from other sub-Saharan African countries. With a course completion rate of 94%, 99% of known alumni were still working in Africa at the end of 2018. Most graduates were located at top-tier (specialist) public hospital facilities. Nine percent of known alumni were found to be working in education, with 54% of graduates at centres that offer or plan to offer children’s nursing education. Conclusion: The programme has made a quantifiable, positive and sustained contribution to the capacity of the specialist clinical and educational children’s nursing workforce in nine African countries. Data suggest there may be promising approaches within programme design and delivery in relation to very high course completion rates and the retention of graduates in service which merit further consideration. Outputs from this single programme are however modest when compared to the scale of need. Greater clarity around the vision and role of specialist children’s nurses and costed plans for workforce development are needed for investment in specialist children’s nursing education to realise its potential in relation to achievement of Universal Health Coverage.

scholarly journals Developing a specialist children’s nursing workforce in sub-Saharan Africa: a descriptive programme evaluation.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Ruthe ◽  
Natasha Lee North
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Education ◽  
Workforce Development ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Course Completion ◽  
Nursing Workforce ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Practice Development ◽  
Universal Health

Abstract Background: Achieving Universal Health Coverage in low and lower-middle income countries requires an estimated additional five and a quarter million nurses. Despite an increasing focus on specialist nursing workforce development, specialist children’s workforce in most African countries falls well below recommended densities. The Child Nursing Practice Development Initiative was established with the aim of building the children’s nursing workforce in Southern and Eastern Africa, and Ghana. The purpose of this evaluation was to enable scrutiny of programme activities conducted between 2008 and 2018 to inform programme review and where possible to identify wider lessons of potential interest in relation to specialist nursing workforce strengthening initiatives. Methods: The study took the form of a descriptive programme evaluation. Data analysed included quantitative programme data and contextual information from documentary sources. Anonymised programme data covering student enrolments between January 2008 and December 2018 were analysed. Findings were member-checked for accuracy. Results: The programme recorded 348 enrolments in 11 years, with 75% of students coming from South Africa and 25% from other sub-Saharan African countries. With a course completion rate of 94%, 99% of known alumni were still working in Africa at the end of 2018. Most graduates were located at top-tier (specialist) public hospital facilities. Nine percent of known alumni were found to be working in education, with 54% of graduates at centres that offer or plan to offer children’s nursing education. Conclusion: The Child Nurse Practice Development Initiative has made a quantifiable, positive and sustained contribution to the capacity of the specialist clinical and educational children’s nursing workforce in nine African countries. Data suggest there may be promising approaches within programme design and delivery in relation to very high course completion rates and the retention of graduates in service which merit further consideration. Outputs from this single programme are however modest when compared to the scale of need. Greater clarity around the vision and role of specialist children’s nurses and costed plans for workforce development are needed for investment in specialist children’s nursing education to realise its potential in relation to achievement of Universal Health Coverage.

scholarly journals Towards universal health coverage: reforming the neglected district health system in Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (Suppl 9) ◽  
pp. e001498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prosper Tumusiime ◽  
Aku Kwamie ◽  
Oladele B Akogun ◽  
Tarcisse Elongo ◽  
Juliet Nabyonga-Orem
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Health System ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
African Countries ◽  
District Health ◽  
District Health System ◽  
The Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Universal Health

In most African countries, the district sphere of governance is a colonial creation for harnessing resources from the communities that are located far away from the centre with the assistance of minimally skilled personnel who are subordinate to the central authority with respect to decision-making and initiative. Unfortunately, postcolonial reforms of district governance have retained the hierarchical structure of the local government. Anchored to such a district arrangement, the (district) health system (DHS) is too weak and impoverished to function in spite of enormous knowledge and natural resources for a seamless implementation of universal health coverage (UHC). Sadly, the quick-fix projects of the 1990s with the laudable intention to reduce the burden of disease within a specified time-point dealt the fatal blow on the DHS administration by diminishing it to a stop-post and a warehouse for commodities (such as bednets and vaccines) destined for the communities. We reviewed the situation of the district in sub-Saharan African countries and identified five attributes that are critical for developing a UHC-friendly DHS. In this analytical paper, we discuss decision-making authority, coordination, resource control, development initiative and management skills as critical factors. We highlight the required strategic shifts and recommend a dialogue for charting an African regional course for a reformed DHS for UHC. Further examination of these factors and perhaps other ancillary criteria will be useful for developing a checklist for assessing the suitability of a DHS for the UHC that Africa deserves.

scholarly journals Future Challenges of Nursing in Health System of Iran

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salman Barasteh ◽  
Maryam Rassouli ◽  
Mohammad Reza Karimirad ◽  
Abbas Ebadi
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Nursing Education ◽  
Health System ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
The Future ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Universal Health

Purpose: Nursing development is considered as one of the most important ways to achieve the universal health coverage and sustainable development goals in different countries. Nursing in Iran has the potential to provide services at all levels of universal health coverage. Therefore, planning for nursing in Iran needs to recognize the future challenges. This study aims to explore the future challenges of nursing in the health system of Iran from the perspective of nursing experts.Methods: In this qualitative study, 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with nursing experts by purposive sampling in 2017–2018. Interviews were recorded and transcribed and framework analysis method was used to analysis the data.Results: The results showed that a favorable future requires planning in three areas of nursing “governance challenges” including centralized nursing stewardship, policy-making and legislation, monitoring and evaluation, and cooperation and communication with other institutions, “inadequacy of professional development with social demands” including community-based nursing, nursing upgrades with disease patterns, expanding home care, expanding care centers, and use of technology, “human resource challenges “including nursing education tailored to the needs of the community, empowering nursing managers, recruiting and retaining nurses, and specialized nursing.Conclusions: A favorable future requires a coherent nursing government, professional development of nursing based on social demands, and enhancing human resources in line with the emerging needs of the future.

Implementing health technology assessment in Ghana to support universal health coverage: building relationships that focus on people, policy, and process

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Hollingworth ◽  
Martha Gyansa-Lutterodt ◽  
Lydia Dsane-Selby ◽  
Justice Nonvignon ◽  
Ruth Lopert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Health Technology Assessment ◽  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
Technology Assessment ◽  
Health Technology ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Allocation Decisions ◽  
Universal Health ◽  
Resource Allocation Decisions

AbstractGhana is one of the few African countries to enact legislation and earmark significant funding to establish universal health coverage (UHC) through the National Health Insurance Scheme, although donor funds have declined recently. Given a disproportionate level of spending on medicines, health technology assessment (HTA) can support resource allocation decisions in the face of highly constrained budgets, as commonly found in low-resource settings. The Ghanaian Ministry of Health, supported by the International Decision Support Initiative (iDSI), initiated a HTA study in 2016 to examine the cost-effectiveness of antihypertensive medicines. We aimed to summarize key insights from this work that highlights success factors beyond producing purely technical outputs. These include the need for capacity building, academic collaboration, and ongoing partnerships with a broad range of experts and stakeholders. By building on this HTA study, and with ongoing interactions with iDSI, HTAi, WHO, and others, Ghana will be well positioned to institutionalize HTA in resource allocation decisions and support progress toward UHC.

scholarly journals Measuring the availability and geographical accessibility of maternal health services across sub-Saharan Africa

BMC Medicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Wigley ◽  
N. Tejedor-Garavito ◽  
V. Alegana ◽  
A. Carioli ◽  
C. W. Ruktanonchai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Universal Health Coverage ◽  
National Level ◽  
District Level ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Availability Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Geographical Accessibility ◽  
Universal Health

Abstract Background With universal health coverage a key component of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, targeted monitoring is crucial for reducing inequalities in the provision of services. However, monitoring largely occurs at the national level, masking sub-national variation. Here, we estimate indicators for measuring the availability and geographical accessibility of services, at national and sub-national levels across sub-Saharan Africa, to show how data at varying spatial scales and input data can considerably impact monitoring outcomes. Methods Availability was estimated using the World Health Organization guidelines for monitoring emergency obstetric care, defined as the number of hospitals per 500,000 population. Geographical accessibility was estimated using the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, defined as the proportion of pregnancies within 2 h of the nearest hospital. These were calculated using geo-located hospital data for sub-Saharan Africa, with their associated travel times, along with small area estimates of population and pregnancies. The results of the availability analysis were then compared to the results of the accessibility analysis, to highlight differences between the availability and geographical accessibility of services. Results Despite most countries meeting the targets at the national level, we identified substantial sub-national variation, with 58% of the countries having at least one administrative unit not meeting the availability target at province level and 95% at district level. Similarly, 56% of the countries were found to have at least one province not meeting the accessibility target, increasing to 74% at the district level. When comparing both availability and accessibility within countries, most countries were found to meet both targets; however sub-nationally, many countries fail to meet one or the other. Conclusion While many of the countries met the targets at the national level, we found large within-country variation. Monitoring under the current guidelines, using national averages, can mask these areas of need, with potential consequences for vulnerable women and children. It is imperative therefore that indicators for monitoring the availability and geographical accessibility of health care reflect this need, if targets for universal health coverage are to be met by 2030.

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