Browse by Geographic Focus

The purpose of this paper is to examine what is known about the nurse workforce and nursing education in China in order to assess the likely potential for nurse migration from China in the future. [from abstract]

This case study provides information on Philippine nurse migration patterns and presents a sending-country perspective on the benefits and costs of this phenomenon. Our aim is to identify strategies that will ensure that international nurse migration is beneficial for both sending and receiving countries. [from abstract]

This paper was commissioned to identify and review reports, documents and data relating to nursing workforce dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa with the objective of analyzing, synthesizing, and presenting key information on nurse migration in the region. It reviews trends and impact of nurse migration derived from previously published work by various groups and reports to the High Level Forum on the millennium development goals on the human resources crisis. [from abstract]

This article intends to provide a contextual analysis of the Caribbean region with respect to forces shaping the current and emerging nursing workforce picture in the region; discuss country-specific case(s) within the Caribbean; and describe the Managed Migration Program as a potential framework for addressing regional and global nurse migration issues. [from abstract]

The objective of this article is to synthesize information about nurse migration in and out of Canada and analyze its role as a policy lever to address the Canadian nursing shortage. [from abstract]

This article synthesizes information about nurse migration into and out of the United Kingdom in the period to 2005, and assesses policy implications. [from abstract]

This article reviews estimates of U.S. nurse supply and demand, documents trends in nurse immigration to the United States and their impact on nursing shortage, and considers strategies for resolving the shortage of nurses in the United States without adversely affecting health care in lower-income countries. [from abstract]

Health Systems in Transition (HiT) profiles are country-based reports that provide a detailed description of each health care system and of reform and policy initiatives in progress or under development. [publisher’s description] Each report contains a section on human resources for health including an overview of the situation and specific health workforce statistics.

This document introduces a competency-based curriculum for nurses and midwives in Rwanda developed by the Capacity Project.

The main purpose of this chapter of “Human Resources for Health in Europe” is to develop a dynamic and unified framework for describing and analysing the role of the health care manager in a changing Europe. The chapter also attempts to combine the construction of this theoretical model with its application, drawing on empirical work in different European countries to illustrate the challenges and opportunities arising from the various elements of health care reform. [from introduction]

This meeting discussed the role of medical schools in the process of development and implementation for national health policies and plans, the need for medical education reforms to respond to national health challenges within the context of global and regional health strategies, the way forward for enhancing the capacity of medical schools to produce adequate human resources for health, and the formulation of recommendations for regular institutional evaluation. [adapted from executive summary]

The starting point for this online database was a comprehensive health workforce survey conducted by the WHO Regional Office for Africa in collaboration with WHO department of human resources for health in Geneva in 2004/2005. All 46 member states of the African Region have contributed to this data collection. The data base presented here is the best available information base on the health workforce in the African Region to date and it will be continuously updated. Data is provided for 23 different types of health care cadres, both as total numbers and densities per 1000 population.

The Health Service Extension Programme (HSEP) is an innovative approach to addressing the shortfall in health human resources in Ethiopia. It has developed a new cadre of Health Extension Workers (HEWs), who are charged with providing the health and hygiene promotion and some treatment services, which together constitute the bedrock of Ethiopia’s community health system. This study seeks to explore the experience of the HSEP from the perspective of the community who received the service. [from abstract]

The main objectives of this study were to assess the quality of the written communication between physicians and to estimate the number of patients that could have been treated at primary care level instead of at a general hospital. [from abstract]

This paper presents a discussion regarding public health’s main challenges in Latin America: knowledge of it, professional practice and training human resources. Emphasis is placed on three components: knowledge of public health, social practice and human resources training. [from abstract]

This PowerPoint was presented at the 2007 GHC expert panel “Making it Work: Private Sector Partnerships to Improve Women’s Health.” It discusses the challenges, costs and results of a program to use private practitioners for improving maternal and child survival.

The report, in its first part, destroys three common myths regarding the private health care sector in Africa and discusses how to engage the private sector effectively. It provides examples of successful public-private partnerships and highlights some of the trends in these types of partnerships. [adapated from executive summary]

The World Bank commissioned the Center for Development Communication (CDC) to develop a communication strategy to help boost public-private partnerships in the African continent. CDC consulted with key informants and stakeholders identified by the World Bank’s Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) working group in order to develop a stakeholder analysis to help inform the larger communication strategy. This report summarizes the results of that consultation. [from executive summary]

When GHARP set out to recruit new service providers [for preventing mother-to-child transmission], it faced a dilemma. Due to the limited supply of health workers in Guyana, the project needed to avoid recruiting health care providers already working for the MOH. Hiring existing health workers away from their jobs would simple reshuffle the distribution of health workers, rather than add new ones. To address the problem, GHARP staff decided to recruit retired nurses to fill the positions. [from author’s description]

Both financial and nonfinancial factors influenced the tenure and job satisfaction of nurses at public maternity services in South Africa. Surveys suggest that strong management and fully equipped facilities could help redress staff turnover. [author’s description]

Se presentan una serie de recomendaciones de políticas y líneas de investigación que buscan instalar como “campo” de acción y de investigación la producción sistemática de información sobre recursos humanos en salud desde una perspectiva de género. [rusumen]

In this paper, we aim to quantify the contribution of international health volunteers (IHVs) to the health workforce in sub-Saharan Africa and to explore the perceptions of health service managers regarding these volunteers. [from abstract]

Georgia’s health care system underwent dramatic reform after gaining independence in 1991. The decentralization of the health care system was one of the core elements of health care reform but reports suggest that human resource management issues were overlooked. The Georgian national immunization program was affected by these reforms and is not functioning at optimum levels. This paper describes the state of human resource management practices within the Georgian national immunization program in late 2004. [from abstract]

This case study was conducted to impart a thorough understanding of the Tumaini Home-Based Care Program model and to document lessons learned that could be applied to other initiatives. While the Tumaini program addresses the needs of both people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHA) as well as OVC, the case study focuses particular attention on specific services and program impact for OVC. The program goals were to provide care and support to OVC; to provide care and support to PLHA; Tumaini: Home-Based Care and to build the capacity of local organizations to provide sustainable HBC services. [from

The Argentine Maternal-Child Health Insurance Program uses an interesting approach of combining output-based contracting with an output-based funding mechanism. Particularly innovative is the combination of enrollment numbers and performance indicators as a way to address the trade off between quantity and quality.

The objective [of this report is] to describe the development, initial findings, and implications of a national nursing workforce database system in Kenya. [from abstract]

The story of the international nurse in the U.S. workforce is generally one of perserverance - not only in obtaining a visa and a state license, but in adjusting to living and working in the United States. [author’s description]

The health worker crisis is particularly acute in rural and hard to reach areas, where 80% of the population in Africa live. The resultant low capacity at the peripheral level of the health system is a crucial barrier to good health. AMREF believes that developing capable, motivated and supported health workers at all levels of the health system is essential in ensuring the delivery of accessible and effective health care across Africa… This briefing draws on AMREF’s experience to look at three key issues: the importance of appropriate training, task-shifting to lower cadres of worker, and training and supporting community health workers (CHW) in order to bring health care closer to communities.

Coping strategies have, in some countries, become so prevalent that it has been widely assumed that the very notion of civil services ethos has completely – and possibly irreversibly – disappeared. This paper describes the importance and the nature of pilfering of drugs by health staff in Mozambique and Cape Verde, as perceived by health professionals from these countries. Their opinions provide pointers as to how to tackle these problems. [from abstract]

While the availability and use of trained midwives can shape the quality of care received in pregnancy and childbirth, a number of other underlying health systems structures and processes are important. The management of health workforces, the mix of public and private provision and the impact of reforms affect quality of care across countries…[This study] examined how the structure and operation of a health system influences maternal health care provision and outcomes in Bangladesh, Russia, South Africa and Uganda. [author’s description]