Nurses and midwives demographic shift in Ghana—the policy implications of a looming crisis

Human Resources for Health

Hamza Ismaila¹  Margaret M. Chebere¹  Juliet Nabyonga-Orem²  James Avoka Asamani²  Ninon P. Amertil³  Akugri Abande Francis³ 

[1] Human Resources Division, Ghana Health Services, Accra, Ghana;World Health Organization, Regional Office for Africa, Inter-Country Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe;grid.449914.5, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Valley View University, Oyibi, Accra, Ghana;

关键词: Human resources for health;    Nursing and midwifery workforce;    Nursing demographics;    Health workforce policy;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12960-019-0377-1

来源: publisher

【 摘 要 】

As part of measures to address severe shortage of nurses and midwives, Ghana embarked on massive scale-up of the production of nurses and midwives which has yielded remarkable improvements in nurse staffing levels. It has, however, also resulted in a dramatic demographic shift in the nursing and midwifery workforce in which 71 to 93% of nurses and midwives by 2018 were 35 years or younger, as compared with 2.8 to 44% in 2008. In this commentary, we examine how the drastic generational transition could adversely impact on the quality of nursing care and how the educational advancement needs of the young generation of the nursing and midwifery workforce are not being met. We propose the institution of a national nursing and midwifery mentorship programme and a review of the study leave policy to make it flexible and be based on a comprehensive training needs assessment of the nursing and midwifery workforce. We further advocate that policymakers should also consider upgrading all professional nursing and midwifery programmes to bachelor degrees as this would not only potentially enhance the quality of training but also address the phenomenon of large numbers of nurses and midwives seeking bachelor degree training soon after employment—sometimes putting them at the offending side of organisational policy.

【 授权许可】

CC BY