Strengthening and Institutionalizing the Leadership and Management Role of Frontline Nurses to Advance Universal Health Coverage in Zambia.

In Zambia, nurses and nurse-midwives lead more than half of rural facilities and guide primary health care delivery. Based on a formative assessment, the Ministry of Health (MOH) determined that improved leadership capacity and management skills of facility heads would help maximize the potential of Zambia's community-level investments. In support of these efforts, the Primary Health Care to Communities (PHC2C) initiative designed and tested a 12-month blended learning program for a certificate in leadership and management practice (CLMP) to build leadership and management competencies of rural facility heads, including increasing their ability to lead frontline teams and strengthening their skills and confidence in technology use.

A Formative Assessment of Nurses' Leadership Role in Zambia's Community Health System.

Background: Despite its achievements in decreasing HIV prevalence and under-five mortality, Zambia still faces high maternal and neonatal mortality, particularly in the rural and remote areas where almost 60% of the population resides. After significant investments in developing its community health system, the Zambian Ministry of Health was interested to understand how to leverage the role of nurses to sustain achievements made and further improve the quality of care in rural communities. The Ministry joined research partners in an assessment into the role and leadership capacity of nurses heading rural health facilities.

Facing a Paradigm Shift in the Sustainable Development Goal Era.

The Sustainable Development Goals challenge us to step beyond traditional development approaches and to consider strategies that are evidence informed and innovative. The concepts are familiar; themes aligned with Harmonization, Primary Healthcare, Leadership, Public Private Partnerships, Community Engagement, and Integrated Technologies. However, to optimize resources and overcome today's challenge with sustainable solutions, we must capture lessons learned and apply evidence developed to inform and expand the thinking to shape and inform new paradigms.

[Critical challenges for human resources in health: a regional view].

This text presents the context and background, the methodology and some of the main results of the regional consultation on the critical challenges for human resources in health in the Americas. The Consultation, carried out in June and July 2005, was part of the strategy of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) for the organization of the VII Regional Meeting of the Observatories of Human Resources, held in Toronto (Canada). The main results and suggestions by the actors consulted with regard to the role of international cooperation in the countries of the Region are presented, so that the countries and international agencies can better formulate common strategies of development and strengthening of the work force in health.