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This leaflet has been designed as an introduction to clinical supervision. It aims to stimulate ideas and to encourage occupational health nurses to set up supervision practice in their workplaces. Clinical supervision isn’t a management tool, but can be used as a support and prompt to professional practice in a creative way. [from introduction]

Electronic learning: a guide for nurse educators has been written by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Education Forum in response to growing interest in new learning technologies, both from individual nursing educators and as a result of education policy initiatives. The guidance sets out what we mean by e-learning, the skills that you as nursing educators, and your learners, will need for electronic learning, and the range of learning technology opportunities. [from introduction]

This guide is aimed mainly at nursing students. It should help you to: recognize if you or a collegue are being bullied or harassed; take action against bullying or harassment; raise awareness of the problem with employers, educators and students; encourage nursing educators and employers to carry through anti-harassment policies. [from introduction]

All health care professionals need to understand and implement the principles of EBM to improve care of their patients. Interactive and clinically integrated teaching and learning activities provide the basis for the best educational practice in this field. [summary]

The loss of human resources through migration of professional health staff to developed countries usually results in a loss of capacity of the health systems in developing countries to deliver health care equitably. Migration of health workers also undermines the ability of countries to meet global, regional and national commitments…

This study describes the work of the Choose to Care initiative of the Catholic Church in Southern Africa which began in 2000. It shows that effective scaling-up of programmes in the response to HIV does not necessarily have to be the expansion of a single central service. Working through the diocesan and parish system,…the Catholic Church scaled up service provision by the replication of smaller scale programmes rooted in and responsive to the needs expressed by local communities in this five-country area.

This report summarizes a UK-wide survey to find out what information nurses, health visitors,midwives and health care assistants need to support their practice and lifelong learning. [adapted from author]

The Royal College of Nursing commissioned this report into the employment policy and practice implications of the rapid growth in the number of internationally recruited nurses working in the UK. [from summary]

These documents aim for a level of staffing and skill mix that is determined by patient need and level of dependency to ensure that patients’ needs are met. Therefore, effective workforce planning is essential. This guidance looks at the considerations for employers, senior nurses and others planning staffing needs at ward, unit and organisational level. [from introduction]

The task of improving quality is a demanding job. It requires focusing on clients, using data, working collaboratively with other team members, and maintaining an overarching view of the health system in which we work. Benchmarking is a process for finding, adapting, and applying best practices. [adapted from author]

This paper addresses an important practical challenge to staff management. We use a case study based on semi-structured interview data to explore the steps that Namibia, a country facing severe health problems that include an alarmingly high AIDS infection rate, has taken to manage its health workers. [from abstract]

The availability of medical human resource supply is a growing concern for rural and remote communities in many countries. In the last decade, various telehealth experiences in Canada have highlighted the potential impact of this technology on professional practice. The purpose of this study was to explore physicians’ and managers’ perceptions regarding the potential of telehealth to support recruitment and retention of physicians in remote and rural regions. [abstract]

This resource paper uses a simple framework to provide an analytical review of human resources for health (HRH) strategic plans that have been generated over the last few years by countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are faced with an HRH crisis. The author collected and analyzed HRH strategic plans for the following countries: Eritrea, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia. The paper explores some of the key dynamics and steps in the evolution of these plans, including the plan development process and content, implementation bottlenecks and the frequency with which the plans are reviewed or evaluated.

The 2006 Review seeks to provide a South African perspective on prevailing international public health issues, and in particular provides an opportunity to reflect on progress to achieving the Millennium Development Goals many of which are linked to maternal and child health. It also seeks to stimulate debate and critical discourse, to provide a platform for assessing progress and to identify key gaps and opportunities for future action that is realistic and sustainable. [from foreword]

The purpose of this newly revised manual and accompanying toolbook is to assist health care providers working in emergency obstetric care (EmOC) settings to improve the quality of services within their facility. With whatever resources are at hand, quality improvement (QI) processes can help staff change and improve practices and conditions and, in so doing, have a significant impact on pregnancy outcomes. [publisher’s description]

This yearly profile is a summary of statistics about the nursing workforce in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, UK and USA.

The ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses, most recently revised in 2006, is a guide for action based on social values and needs. The Code is regularly reviewed and revised in response to the realities of nursing and health care in a changing society. The Code makes it clear that inherent in nursing is respect for human rights, including the right to life, to dignity and to be treated with respect. The ICN Code of Ethics guides nurses in everyday choices and it supports their refusal to participate in activities that conflict with caring and healing. [publisher’s description]

These revised and expanded guidelines aim to help [national nursing associations], nursing and midwifery personnel, nurse managers, employers and others to address the educational needs and ethical responsibilities of nursing and midwifery personnel in reducing transmission of HIV/AIDS, HBV, HCV and tuberculosis; develop strategies for a safer work environment and increased protection for nursing and midwifery personnel; and address the socioeconomic welfare issues related to the health care needs, compensation and financial security of HIV-positive nursing and midwifery personnel.

This document is directed towards individual nurses to help them take charge and be in control of their careers within the ever-changing world of health care. These guidelines highlight the key dimensions of career planning and development and offer guidance to those who wish to evaluate the present and shape their future. [adapted from introduction]

The content of these guidelines focuses on nurse entrepreneurs providing nursing services. These guidelines aim to: provide background knowledge on the development of nurse entrepreneurs providing nursing service; establish the link between nurse entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs; identify the roles, services, basic profile and requirements of nurse entrepreneurs; and define the potential role of national nurses’ associations in the development and regulation of nurse entrepreneurs providing nursing service. [adpated from author’s description)

Increasing evidence supporting the value of screening women for cervical cancer once in their lifetime, coupled with mounting interest in scaling up successful screening demonstration projects, present challenges to public health decision makers seeking to take full advantage of the single-visit opportunity to provide additional services.

This pre-tested and peer-reviewed curriculum focuses on the knowledge and skills necessary for providing holistic CHBC for people living with HIV/AIDS, transferring knowledge and skills to caregivers and CHBC clients, and mobilizing communities around HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and support. The trainer’s guide includes comprehensive units that cover topics from HIV basics, communication skills, nursing care, nutrition, positive living, family planning, HIV prevention, ART, to community mobilization.

Childhood immunization is a major public health concern in Cambodia. Given the high infant and child mortality rates and the low uptake rate of immunizations, a study of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of communities and health workers was conducted to identify barriers to immunization and inform future information, communication and education (IEC) strategies. Quantitative and qualitative research was conducted to discover the KAP of communities and health workers towards immunization services and the introduction of hepatitis B vaccine.

This article discusses the need for effective staff training for qualiy immunization services and describes one non-governmental organization’s experience of training partners in countries. [adapted from author]

This [training] guide considers the constraints to protecting privacy in low-resource settings and provides an evidence-based rationale that services will be more effective if resources are invested in ensuring the privacy rights of clients. [This guide] is designed to enable clinic staff, service providers, and supervisors to better support and protect the right of clients to privacy and confidentiality.

This issue of Outlook explores the role of pharmacists and non-pharmacist counter staff in primary health care, with a specific emphasis on reproductive health. It also presents programs that build the capacity of pharmacists to provide expanded services, thus improving access to quality reproductive health services. [author’s description]

The objectives of these guidelines are: to review the prevalence, incidence and impact of abuse and violence against nursing personnel, to recognise nurses’ responses to incidents of violence, to determine the major security factors acting on the workplace, and to present strategies that aim to confront and reduce/eliminate violence in the workplace. [adapted from introduction]

This document highlights the potential advantages and perils of career moves and migration for nurses, describes some of the main nurse migration trends and establishes a list of critical questions as an ethical framework for nurse recruitment. [adapted from author]

Nurses are increasingly working overtime. Nurses’ overtime (mandatory or voluntary) has been used as a measure to reduce the impact of the critical shortage of nurses and/or the downsizing of nursing departments in both private and public health facilities. However, the increasing amount of overtime threatens nurses’ ability to provide safe and individualised care for patients. [author’s description]

Healthcare systems worldwide are stressed by limited resources and increasing demands on their services. Nurses, as the largest group of healthcare professionals, have experienced significant changes in their work life and environment as systems have tried to meet these challenges. As workloads become more substantial and the number of nurses per patient diminishes, patients and healthcare workers across the globe are put increasingly at risk. [introduction]