Cross-sectional description of nursing and midwifery pre-service education accreditation in east, central, and southern Africa in 2013.

Background: In 2013, the World Health Organization issued guidelines, Transforming and Scaling Up Health Professional Education and Training, to improve the quality and relevance of health professional pre-service education. Central to these guidelines was establishing and strengthening education accreditation systems. To establish what current accreditation systems were for nursing and midwifery education and highlight areas for strengthening these systems, a study was undertaken to document the pre-service accreditation policies, approaches, and practices in 16 African countries relative to the 2013 WHO guidelines.

The World Health Organization Launches the 2016-2020 Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020 provide a framework to ensure nursing and midwifery interventions are developed, implemented, and evaluated at global, regional, and country levels and in partnership with key stakeholders. The Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020 supports the WHO's Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health: Workforce 2030. The WHO Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020 presents a vision, guiding principles, and four themes to maximize nursing and midwifery workforce contributions to improve global health.

Approaches to improving the contribution of the nursing and midwifery workforce to increasing universal access to primary health care for vulnerable populations: a systematic review.

Background: Despite considerable evidence showing the importance of the nursing and midwifery workforce, there are no systematic reviews outlining how these cadres are best supported to provide universal access and reduce health care disparities at the primary health care (PHC) level. This review aims to identify nursing and midwifery policy, staffing, education and training interventions, collaborative efforts and strategies that have improved the quantity, quality and relevance of the nursing and midwifery workforce leading to health improvements for vulnerable populations.

Methods: We undertook a structured search of bibliographic databases for peer-reviewed research literature using a focused review question and inclusion/exclusion criteria.

The role of nurses and midwives in polio eradication and measles control activities: a survey in Sudan and Zambia.

Background: Nurses and midwives are the key providers of nursing and midwifery services; in many countries, they form the major category of frontline workers who provide both preventive and curative services in the community. When the skills and experience of nursing and midwifery personnel are maximized, they can contribute significantly to positive health outcomes. We conducted a survey among nurses and midwives working at district level in Sudan and Zambia to determine their roles and functions in polio eradication and measles elimination programmes.

How much does quality of child care vary between health workers with differing durations of training? An observational multicountry study.

Background: Countries with high rates of child mortality tend to have shortages of qualified health workers. Little rigorous evidence has been done to assess how much the quality of care varies between types of health workers. We compared the performance of different categories of health workers who are trained in Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI).

Alcohol use and sexual behaviour among risky drinkers and bar and shebeen patrons in Gauteng province, South Africa.

This paper describes the South Africa component of a World Health Organization multi-site rapid assessment and response project seeking to develop a methodology for studying factors associated with alcohol use-related sexual risk behaviour in diverse cultural settings. This report focuses on the qualitative assessments that were conducted in order to profile alcohol use and sexual behaviour in the communities concerned, ascertain the relationships between alcohol use and sexual behaviour, and develop a conceptual model of the relationships between alcohol use and sexual risk behaviour. The participants consisted of adults aged between 25 and 44 years in a township and city site in Gauteng province.

Opportunities for an improved role for nurses in psychoactive substance use: review of the literature.

Nurses form a core component of many health care systems so their role in responding to problems related to psychoactive substance use is crucial. They are often under-utilized, mainly because of anxieties concerning role adequacy, legitimacy, lack of support and failure to implement interventions in a variety of settings. Nurses have unique opportunities through interactions they have with young people, families and significant others.