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This document is an environmental policy scan of activity in three areas related to physicians, nurses and pharmacists: education and training initiatives; recruitment and retention and work place initiatives; and capacity to do national health human resource planning. [adapted from introduction]

The aim of the project was to evaluate the effect of the new rural allowance on the short-term career choices of health professionals in rural areas. A longitudinal cohort study design was used, before and after the introduction of the new allowance.

Nurses and midwives face the challenge of embracing new methods of care delivery which will provide a quality service that is truly people-centred. There is growing evidence of the need to link continuing professional development with organisational goals. The construction of career pathways in a healthcare system which is subject to radical and far-reaching change is an issue of growing importance to nurses and midwives. [from executive summary]

The NHS in Scotland is facing unprecedented change and is looking to transform existing models of health care. It also reinforces that improvements in healthcare will be achieved by new and more efficient ways of working, such as using the skills of nurses and allied health
professionals to take on more roles and give patients more choice. This document presents a generic framework to guide the development of new roles. It can be used to assist in the planning process to ensure that roles are needs led, meet governance requirements, are sustainable, as well as ensuring that the development is supported by the whole team thus ensuring its success.

Despite growing evidence in the US, little evidence has been available to evaluate whether internationally, hospitals in which nurses care for fewer patients have better outcomes in terms of patient survival and nurse retention. The objectives of this article are to examine the effects of hospital-wide nurse staffing levels (patient-to-nurse ratios) on patient mortality, failure to rescue (mortality risk for patients with complicated stays) and nurse job dissatisfaction, burnout and nurserated quality of care. [from abstract]

The purpose of this human resource for health (HRH) plan is to provide guidance for the staffing of the health services and the training of health service personnel to the year 2020. It analyzes main issues and dimensions in HRH and proposes strategies to meet the targets for the wellbeing of the population as defined in the vision 2020 for Rwanda The plan provides staffing targets for each of the major categories of health personnel.

By measuring the ability and actual practice of a sample of clinicians in Tanzania and examining the terms of employment for these clinicians, we show that both ability and motivation are important to quality.

This presentation discusses quality issues in private practice in developing countries, how the government can make licensing and regulation more effective, shifting the quality distribution and the use of accreditation. [adapted from author]

This presentation is from PSP-One’s GHC Expert Panel - Expanding Health Service Access, Quality, and Equity in Developing Countries: The Role of the Private Sector. It presents franchise models for delivering family planning and reproductive health services by the private sector.

The paper investigates the magnitude of migration of health professionals from Zimbabwe, the causes of such movements and the associated impacts on health care delivery. International migration of health professionals has led to staff shortages and the situation is worse in public compared to private health institutions. The quality of care given to patients has also declined. The research calls for the adoption of an integrated approach in solving the concerns of health professions. [abstract]

Traditional approaches to health human resource planning emphasize the effects of demographic change on the needs for health human resources. Planning requirements are largely based on the size and demographic mix of the population applied to simple population-provider or population-utilization ratios. We develop an extended analytical framework based on the production of heal care services and the multiple determinants of health human resource requirements. [from abstract]

This framework encompasses the healthcare workforce planning skills and competences required at both strategic and operational level, for all types of staff, including chief executives, directors, clinicians, service development managers, ward managers, workforce planners, and contributes to the building of capability in human resource management identified in the HR in the NHS Plan. [publisher’s description]

This review paper revisits questions regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of community health worker programmes. This review aims to assess the presently existing evidence. It constitutes a desktop review, which draws together and assesses the evidence as it can be found in the published and selected grey literature since the late 1970s. [from executive summary]

This review was designed to assess how nurse to patient ratios and nurse work hours were associated with patient outcomes in acute care hospitals, factors that influence nurse staffing policies, and nurse staffing strategies that improved patient outcomes. [from abstract]

This paper describes the practice of international recruitment of Indian nurses in the model of a business process outsourcing of comprehensive training-cum-recruitment-cum-placement for popular destinations like the United Kingdom and United States through an agency system that has acquired growing intensity in India. [from abstract]

The purpose of this paper is to examine what is known about the nurse workforce and nursing education in China in order to assess the likely potential for nurse migration from China in the future. [from abstract]

This case study provides information on Philippine nurse migration patterns and presents a sending-country perspective on the benefits and costs of this phenomenon. Our aim is to identify strategies that will ensure that international nurse migration is beneficial for both sending and receiving countries. [from abstract]

This paper was commissioned to identify and review reports, documents and data relating to nursing workforce dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa with the objective of analyzing, synthesizing, and presenting key information on nurse migration in the region. It reviews trends and impact of nurse migration derived from previously published work by various groups and reports to the High Level Forum on the millennium development goals on the human resources crisis. [from abstract]

This article intends to provide a contextual analysis of the Caribbean region with respect to forces shaping the current and emerging nursing workforce picture in the region; discuss country-specific case(s) within the Caribbean; and describe the Managed Migration Program as a potential framework for addressing regional and global nurse migration issues. [from abstract]

The objective of this article is to synthesize information about nurse migration in and out of Canada and analyze its role as a policy lever to address the Canadian nursing shortage. [from abstract]

This article synthesizes information about nurse migration into and out of the United Kingdom in the period to 2005, and assesses policy implications. [from abstract]

This article reviews estimates of U.S. nurse supply and demand, documents trends in nurse immigration to the United States and their impact on nursing shortage, and considers strategies for resolving the shortage of nurses in the United States without adversely affecting health care in lower-income countries. [from abstract]

The objective of this article is to look at nurse migration flows in the light of national nursing workforce imbalances, examine factors that encourage or inhibit nurse mobility, and explore the potential benefits of circular migration. [from abstract]

Health Systems in Transition (HiT) profiles are country-based reports that provide a detailed description of each health care system and of reform and policy initiatives in progress or under development. [publisher’s description] Each report contains a section on human resources for health including an overview of the situation and specific health workforce statistics.

This document introduces a competency-based curriculum for nurses and midwives in Rwanda developed by the Capacity Project.