Nursing Capacity Building
Development of a robust and well-trained nursing and midwifery workforce is central to ICAP’s strategy for strengthening health systems.
Through the Global Nurse Capacity Building Program (GNCBP), ICAP aims to improve health in sub-Saharan African countries by fostering individuals, institutions, and networks to expand, enhance, and sustain the nursing and midwifery workforce by pursuing three objectives:
- Improve the quantity, quality, and relevance of nurses and midwives to address essential population-based health care needs, including HIV and other life threatening conditions.
- Identify, evaluate, and disseminate innovative models and practices for national scale-up of nursing and midwifery education.
- Provide capacity building support and build local and regional partnerships for nursing and midwifery policy, regulatory and faculty development, curricula reform, professional development and worker retention, and high impact nursing leadership.
The GNCBP consists of two subprojects:
Nursing Education Partnership Initiative (NEPI)
The Nursing Education Partnership Initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of nursing and midwifery educational institutions and ensure the production of sufficient, well-trained, clinically competent graduates. NEPI is led in partnership with ministries of health and academic institutions and supported by PEPFAR through the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to improve the quantity and quality of the nursing and midwifery workforce.
NEPI currently supports programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, and Zambia to:
- Strengthen nursing education infrastructure
- Improve the quality and relevance of teaching and learning
- Improve the capacity of nursing and midwifery faculty
- Strengthen governance, leadership and administrative capacity of nursing education institutions
- Enhance partnerships with national and regional nursing education networks
Read about NEPI’s accomplishments from 2012-2016 here.
Learn more at: nepinetwork.org
General Nursing
Through its General Nursing program, ICAP is working to increase nursing and midwifery capacity to provide HIV and primary care services. ICAP partners with ministries of health and other stakeholders including nursing councils and training institutions with support from PEPFAR through HRSA and the CDC.
ICAP currently supports programs in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and Cote d’Ivoire to develop interventions and strategies based on demonstrated needs, by:
- Developing and enhancing national nursing strategies
- Increasing nurse capacity at the pre-service and in-service level
- Improving nurse retention
- Establishing and strengthening regulatory councils
- Supporting nursing leadership at policy level
- Promoting quality and quality improvement
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