Nawagi Faith, Kneafsey Rosie, Modber Mohammed, Mukeshimana Madeline, Ndungu Cecilia, Bayliss-Pratt Lisa
College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Centre for Healthcare Research, Coventry University, Coventry, UK.
BMC Nurs. 2023 May 18;22(1):168. doi: 10.1186/s12912-023-01336-3.
Investment in nursing and midwifery leadership and governance are key suggested approaches by the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Regional Office to address the shortages in the nursing health workforce. However, there are few if any studies that have investigated the existence and operationalization of the nursing and midwifery leadership and governance structures in Africa. This paper fills this gap by, providing an overview of nursing and midwifery leadership, governance structures, and instruments in Africa.
We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study of the nursing and midwifery leadership, structures, and instruments in 16 African countries using quantitative methodology. Data was analyzed using SPSS IBM 21 statistical software. Data was summarized in frequencies and percentages and presented as tables and charts.
Only (9,56.25%) of the 16 countries included had retrievable evidence of all expected governance structures while (7, 43.75%) lacked one or more of the structures. A quarter (4, 25%) of the countries did not have a department of nursing and midwifery or chief nursing and midwifery officer at their Ministry of Health (MOH). The dominant gender representation across all the governance structures was female. Only Lesotho (1, 6.25%) had all expected nursing and midwifery governance instruments while the remaining (15, 93.75%) had either one or four of these instruments missing.
The lack of complete nursing and midwifery governance structures and instruments in various African countries is a matter of concern. Without these structures and instruments, the strategic direction and input of the nursing and midwifery profession cannot be maximized for the public good in relation to health outcomes. Addressing the existing gaps requires a multipronged approach with the need to strengthen regional collaboration, and advocacy, creating awareness, and advancing nursing and midwifery leadership training to enable nursing and midwifery governance capacity development in Africa.
投资于护理及助产领导力与治理是世界卫生组织（WHO）非洲区域办事处提出的解决护理卫生人力短缺问题的关键建议方法。然而，几乎没有研究调查过非洲护理及助产领导力与治理结构的存在情况及实施情况。本文通过概述非洲护理及助产领导力、治理结构和工具填补了这一空白。
我们采用定量方法对16个非洲国家的护理及助产领导力、结构和工具进行了描述性横断面研究。使用IBM SPSS 21统计软件对数据进行分析。数据以频率和百分比进行汇总，并以表格和图表形式呈现。
16个纳入国家中只有9个（56.25%）有所有预期治理结构的可检索证据，而7个（43.75%）缺少一种或多种结构。四分之一（4个，25%）的国家在其卫生部没有护理及助产部门或首席护理及助产官。所有治理结构中占主导地位的性别代表是女性。只有莱索托（1个，6.25%）拥有所有预期的护理及助产治理工具，而其余15个（93.75%）缺少其中一种或四种工具。
非洲各国护理及助产治理结构和工具的缺失令人担忧。没有这些结构和工具，就无法为了与健康结果相关的公共利益而最大限度地发挥护理及助产专业的战略方向和投入。解决现有差距需要采取多管齐下的方法，需要加强区域合作、宣传、提高认识以及推进护理及助产领导力培训，以促进非洲护理及助产治理能力的发展。
