Role analysis of the nurse/midwives in the health services in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons
Abstract
AIM : The aim of this paper is to describe the actual current roles and tasks of nurses in Sub-
Saharan African health services. BACKGROUND:
The current roles of nurses and midwives in the African region of the World Health
Organization have not been empirically established, with only two country studies found
(South Africa and Mozambique). This makes it difficult to establish whether current
nursing education programmes and nursing regulations adequately address the needs in the health services. METHODS:
This was a descriptive quantitative study using two survey questionnaires, a 120 task
Hospital Questionnaire and a 153 Primary Health Care task questionnaire. Nurses from
nine African countries (five Anglophone and four Francophone) completed a hospital or
Primary Health Care task questionnaire - a total of 927 respondents from both hospital
and Primary Health Care settings. Data was collected between June and December 2010.
Results:
The highest role functioning in both settings was found in the role “General Care”. The
lowest role functioning in both settings was found in the role “Maternal and Child
Health” and in “The Provision of Mental Health Care”. The role performance in
Anglophone countries was significantly higher than in Francophone countries and this
was also reflected in regional comparisons. CONCLUSION:
The development of competency in nursing roles other than medical surgical roles
(general assessment and care) should receive more attention in curricula. Special
attention needs to be given to Francophone countries, where the professions of nursing
and midwifery are poorly developed.
Description
Keywords
Africa, Nurse roles, Midwifery, Task analysis
Citation
Uys, L. et al. (2013). Role analysis of the nurse/midwives in the health services in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69 (10): 2207-2217