Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109076

Pamela McQuide, PhD, RN, Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing, Emory University, 1520 Clifton Road, Suite 422, Atlanta, GA 30322-4207, (404) 727-8489, pmcquid@emory.edu and John Arudo, BSN, MPH, MSc, Advanced Nursing Studies Programme, Aga Khan University, 3rd Parklands Av., Off Lmuru Rd, PO Box 39340, Parklands, Nairobi, 00623, Kenya.

Nurses and midwives form the backbone of a country's health system. Although there is growing concern about out-migration and the impact of HIV/AIDS on nurses and midwives from resource- constrained countries, there are inadequate data available regarding the extent of the problem. This is mainly attributable to the lack of a reliable, current, and easily accessible workforce data system in many of these countries. To ensure the availability of such data, there is an urgent appeal by the several international organizations such as the World Health Organization, United Nations, and the Commonwealth Health Ministers for Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) to assist nursing and midwifery to develop an effective human resources management system.

In Kenya, this need was recently met through the successful implementation of the Kenya Nursing Workforce Project (KNWP). The project established a computerized data system to track nurses trained, licensed and deployed in Kenya across the various health sectors. We will present Kenyan nurse migration data to illustrate how new knowledge of specific migration numbers can shape health policy Decisions.

A similar project is now being organized in Uganda, where collaborators from USAID, the European Union, and others are assisting the Ministry of Health to computerize health workforce data from the point of entry in training programs through exit from the workforce (whether due to migration, retirement, death, or other causes).

Developing country ministries of health that gain control over their workforce data are better positioned to make informed policy decisions to take best advantage of existing health workers while discouraging their out-migration.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of the session the participants will be able to
• • Identify the importance of workforce data for nurses and midwives so policy makers can estimate the supply, demand and causes of attrition of their nursing and midwifery workforce.
• • Link the need for human resources data for health professionals to the millennium development goals.
• • Describe the key components of the workforce projects in East Africa.
• • Identify the number and characteristics of Kenyan nurses who have applied for nursing licensure outside of Kenya over the past ten years.

Keywords: Workforce, International Systems

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered