Strengthening the Capacity of Nurses in Developing Countries to Deliver HIV/AIDS Care: Using Participatory Methods to Identify Needs and Design Training

Although HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries have been supported for nearly two decades, scant attention has been paid to the need to strengthen the capacity of nurses to 1) care for those with HIV/AIDS; 2) prevent the pandemic among the populations with which they work; and 3) engage in policy-making at the local and national levels. Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies (GU-NHS) is carrying out a three-year project in the Southern Cone of Africa to address this critical need to improve access to and quality of care provided by nurses. This paper will describe: 1) the participatory methods that are being used to identify education and training gaps in clinical care, community-based prevention services, and leadership at the facility and community/national levels; 2) the types of capacity-building approaches that are being planned as a result of this needs assessment; and 3) the mixed-method approach to evaluating the capacity-building activities and preliminary findings of these initial activities. The findings of the needs assessment are based on individual interviews and focus groups conducted with nurses, nursing educators, community leaders and others in South Africa and Lesotho, as well as observation and analysis of secondary data. The paper will also describe the political importance of building partnerships with host country public and private sector national and local organizations engaged in HIV/AIDS policy, programs, and direct services, as well as national associations of nurses (e.g., South African Nursing Council) and schools of nursing. This close collaboration with host country key stakeholders helps to ensure a nursing capacity building program that is tailored to the needs of the country. It will also provide South Africa with a wide variety of significant HIV expertise and resources from overseas.