Health Professional Training and Capacity Strengthening Through International Academic Partnerships: The First Five Years of the Human Resources for Health Program in Rwanda.

Background: The Rwanda Human Resources for Health Program (HRH Program) is a 7-year (2012-2019) health professional training initiative led by the Government of Rwanda with the goals of training a large, diverse, and competent health workforce and strengthening the capacity of academic institutions in Rwanda.

Methods: The data for this organizational case study was collected through official reports from the Rwanda Ministry of Health (MoH) and 22 participating US academic institutions, databases from the MoH and the College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) in Rwanda, and surveys completed by the co-authors.

Results: In the first 5 years of the HRH Program, a consortium of US academic institutions has deployed an average of 99 visiting faculty per year to support 22 training programs, which are on track to graduate almost 4600 students by 2019.

Investing in Nurses is a Prerequisite for Ensuring Universal Health Coverage.

Nurses and midwives constitute the majority of the global health workforce and the largest health care expenditure. Efficient production, successful deployment, and ongoing retention based on carefully constructed policies regarding the career opportunities of nurses, midwives, and other providers in health care systems are key to ensuring universal health coverage. Yet nurses are constrained by practice regulations, workplaces, and career ladder barriers from contributing to primary health care delivery.

Evaluation of a Nurse-Initiated Routine HIV Testing Pilot on a Medical-Surgical Unit.

National guidelines recommending a shift from risk-based to routine HIV testing for persons ages 13-64 are described. The role of nurses, particularly medical-surgical nurses, in increasing the number of people screened is discussed.

Rwanda 20 years on: investing in life.

Two decades ago, the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda led to the deaths of 1 million people, and the displacement of millions more. Injury and trauma were followed by the effects of a devastated health system and economy. In the years that followed, a new course set by a new government set into motion equity-oriented national policies focusing on social cohesion and people-centred development.

Implementation of routine HIV testing in an acute care hospital in Rhode Island: a nurse-initiated opt-out pilot project.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded HIV screening of adults ages 13-64 years in 2006 from risk based to routine. Early detection and treatment improve patient outcomes and prevent disease transmission. This article describes a pilot program in which nurses in an adult inpatient unit at an acute care hospital offer HIV testing to all patients ages 18-64 upon admission through standing orders.