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This Self-Assessment Inventory outlines the major areas of competence an effective supervisor must have. The competency areas are sub-divided into categories which correspond to the major functions supervisors perform. Its primary use is as a self-assessment tool. Individuals are encouraged to use it to assess their competence and performance as supervisors and use the results to develop a plan for improvement. This Inventory can also be used as a guide to curriculum development for Supervisory Training, using the components as the basis for a needs assessment exercise. [purpose]

This study set out to characterise the nature and extent of discriminatory practices and attitudes in the health sector, and indicate possible contributing factors and intervention strategies. [from author]

The checklist is intended as a self-assessment tool for managers to use in gauging how well their facility (hospital, clinic, or department) reaches, serves, and treats HIV-positive patients. This gives managers an opportunity to identify institutional strengths and weaknesses, consider ways to address the weaknesses, and later to assess progress toward PLHA-friendliness. The Checklist is designed in a simple format that can be readily adapted for each unique context. [from introduction]

Hospital managers who used a checklist to assess their facilities’ policies and practices took action to improve staff safety and reduce AIDS-related stigma. Findings suggest that the actions taken, including education, training, policy formulation, and involvement of AIDS NGOs, contributed to improved knowledge, attitudes, and practices among health workers. UNAIDS has recognized the intervention as a best practice, and NACO has endorsed the intervention’s tools and approaches. [author’s description]

This edition covers topics such as: migration of skilled health workers, investing in human resources for health, strengthening human resources for health in Africa, and the economic cost of health professionals brain drain in the African region. [author’s description]

Since the late 1990s, Malawi’s public health services have appeared to be heading for collapse due to declining staffing levels. The government launched the Essential Health Package in 2004 to help improve the health of the population, which includes scaling-up HIV and AIDS-related services. The biggest challenge facing the initiative is improving human resource levels. [adapted from author]

This toolkit explores the nurse/workplace interface, overlapping factors that shape nurses’ work environments, the cost of unhealthy workplaces, and the characteristics and benefits of positive practice environments. A list of recommended actions and tools to help nurses negotiate for improved environments is also included. [from introduction]

Rural background and training have previously been found to increase the likelihood of rural practice. However, practitioners of many health professions remain in shortage in rural and remote Australia. This study builds on previous work in that it includes medical, nursing and allied health professions, considers the role of the health professional’s family in employment decisions, and includes a broader array of factors influencing employment preference and the preferred location of practice. The survey also examines when students might work in a rural area. [introduction]

This article presents the result of a literature review examining possible ways to improve healthcare services in rural areas. [from abstract]

Australian remote area nurses (RANs) are specialist advanced practice nurses. They work in unique, challenging and sometimes dangerous environments to provide a diverse range of healthcare services to remote and predominantly Aboriginal communities. There is an emerging skills gap in the remote nursing workforce as experienced and qualified RANs leave this demanding practice. There is a shortage of new nurses interested in working in these areas, and many of those who enter remote practice leave after a short time. Distance management was examined in order to gain a better understanding of its effects on the retention of RANs. Distance management in this context occurs when the health service’s line management team is located geographically distant from the workplace they are managing. [introduction]

Rising health care costs and the need to consolidate expertise in tertiary services have led to the centralisation of services. In the UK, the result has been that many rural maternity units have become midwife-led. A key consideration is that midwives have the skills to competently and confidently provide maternity services in rural areas, which may be geographically isolated and where the midwife may only see a small number of pregnant women each year. Our objective was to compare the views of midwives in rural and urban settings, regarding their competence and confidence with respect to competencies identified as being those which all professionals should have in order to provide effective and safe care for low-risk women.

Despite the usefulness of voluntary counselling and testing centres implemented in Africa, their limited capacity does not allow for vast testing of the general population. Therefore, in order to increase the number of individuals tested for HIV with the aim of enhancing the scaling up, we developed a strategy based on bringing the healthcare package much closer to the people, by using mobile HIV testing units. We herein report the Cameroon experience of mobile HIV testing unit strategy, demonstrating its effectiveness in reaching a great number of individuals, including those without usual access to HIV testing facilities. [abstract]

This article summarizes and comments on the available literature on the effectiveness of intrventions designed to change [health worker] professional behaviour in order to bring evidence into practice in developing countries. [from abstract]

This Issues in Health Economics presents the main conclusions of an international literature review of policies designed to tackle geographical inequalities in the distribution of health professionals. [author’s description]

Recent studies involving physicians in training have shown that excessive work hours are associated with an increased rate of medical errors and adverse events. The problem of excessive work hours of physicians in training in El Salvador has political and economic roots that need to be addressed by politicians and public health policy makers. [adapted from author]

This study aims to provide in-depth information on the migration of Filipino health workers and the repercussions this has on individual migrants, their families, their professions and the nation as a whole.

Because of its inherent complexities, the migration of health workers benefits from multidisciplinary research: solutions must be informed by a better understanding of the perspectives and underlying motivations of the many stakeholders. [author’s description]

During a labor shortage, employment-based benefits can be used to recruit and retain workers. This paper provides data on the availability of benefits to registered nurses (RNs), reports on how health care leaders are approaching the provision of employment-based benefits for nurses, and considers what nurses have to say in focus groups about benefits. Because of the ongoing nurse shortage, many employers are trying to enhance the benefits they offer to support recruitment and retention efforts.

The paper reports on a survey of recently arrived international nurses working in London, to assess their demographic profile, motivations, experiences and career plans. [from abstract]

This good practice guide is intended as a practical guide for trust boards and managers to help them to use temporary nursing staff effectively. The guide comprises a narrative of the salient points in the use and management of temporary nursing staff and includes a number of good practice checklists. It also provides case studies drawn from study visits and the work of the Department of Health’s National Agency Staffing Project. [from preface]

The purpose of this document is primarily to articulate and describe workforce supply. The aim of this is two-fold. First, it will help NHS Boards and other employers to understand where their future workforce is likely to come from and second, it provides a vehicle for setting medical, dental and nursing training numbers and helps inform education providers about future workforce needs and likely supply pathways. This is turn will impact the workforce itself, thus workforce planning and development is a continual cyclical process. [from introduction]

This study explored the distribution of public sector health workers [in Zimbabwe] to show how its pattern impacts on equity objectives in health care delivery. [from executive summary]

This report presents an overview of the policy implications of the international migration of health workers in Europe, based on case studies conducted in five countries – Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Poland and the United Kingdom – and draws on information from other WHO European Region countries, such as Israel and Latvia. [from introduction]

Experience has shown that governments have different kinds of HRH policies, strategies and plans even when they are within the overall context of national health policies and strategies. This document provides guidance on the process with proposals of content for three basic HRH documents: situation analysis, policy, and strategic plan. [from foreword]

The National Health Service published guidance to help protect staff who work alone and who do not have access to immediate support from colleagues or others. This guidance provides a template from which local employers can develop procedures and systems to protect lone workers. It contains information on how technology can be used to help provide a safer environment and to help nurses feel more confident about their personal safety. The RCN wanted to find out if the situation for nurses working in the community has improved since 2005, their perception of risk, their experiences of assault and abuse, whether technology has been provided, and how incidents are handled.

The nurse auxiliaries who work at the rural health centers (CESARs) of the Honduran Ministry of Health (MOH) are frequently the only source of reproductive health services in the communities they serve. In order to increase access to long-term family planning methods, the MOH and the Population Council’s INOPAL III Project conducted an operations research study from 1997 to 1998 to see if nurse auxiliaries could provide good quality IUD, Depo-Provera and vaginal cytology services without health risks for their clients.

The question guiding the paper is: “What are the key ingredients of a high-quality work environment in Canada’s health care sector and how can this goal be achieved?” Synthesizing insights from a variety of research streams, the paper identifies many ingredients needed to create a high-quality workplace. We take a multidisciplinary and holistic approach, which complements other research initiatives on health human resources. [from abstract]

In this discussion document, the Department of Health and Children identifies key development issues facing nursing and midwifery in the future. This is in order to establish a strong platform for the formulation of a strategic response to these issues. The document contains an insightful analysis of the challenges ahead and identifies a range of possible responses. [from preface]

This report summarizes the findings of AHRQ-funded and other research on the relationship of nurse staffing levels to adverse patient outcomes. This valuable information can be used by decisionmakers to make more informed choices in terms of adjusting nurse staffing levels and increasing nurse recruitment while optimizing quality of care and improving nurse satisfaction. [author’s description]

This document briefly describes HRH-related issues common to many countries and proposes ways to address them. It gives examples of strategies applied successfully in specific local contexts, as well as constraints and challenges often encountered. [from introduction]