Role analysis of the nurse/midwives in the health services in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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.