Articles

Supervision as a tool for building surgical capacity of district hospitals: the case of Zambia

Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have adopted task shifting of surgical responsibilities to non-physician clinicians (NPCs) as a solution to address workforce shortages. There is resistance to delegating s...

Authors: Jakub Gajewski, Nasser Monzer, Chiara Pittalis, Leon Bijlmakers, Mweene Cheelo, John Kachimba and Ruairi Brugha

Can traditional bonesetters become trained technicians? Feasibility study among a cohort of Nigerian traditional bonesetters

Traditional bonesetters (TBS) provide the majority of primary fracture care in Nigeria and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). They are widely patronized and their services are commonly associated ...

Authors: Ndubuisi Onu Onyemaechi, Ijeoma Uchenna Itanyi, Paulinus Okechukwu Ossai and Echezona Edozie Ezeanolue

Research to support evidence-informed decisions on optimizing the contributions of nursing and midwifery workforces

Authors: James Buchan, James Campbell and Carey McCarthy

Changing demographic trends among South African occupational therapists: 2002 to 2018

South Africa’s quadruple burden of disease, coupled with health system challenges and other factors, predicts a high burden of disability within the population. Human Resources for Health policy and planning n...

Authors: Lieketseng Ned, Ritika Tiwari, Helen Buchanan, Lana Van Niekerk, Kate Sherry and Usuf Chikte

Gender imbalance in executive management positions at the Mexican National Institutes of Health

Around the world, there is a significant difference in the proportion of women with access to leadership in healthcare with respect to men. This article studies gender imbalance and wage gap in managerial, exe...

Authors: Lucero Soledad Rivera-Romano, Cristobal Fresno, Enrique Hernández-Lemus, Mireya Martínez-García and Maite Vallejo

Attitudes of anesthetists towards an anesthesia-led nurse practitioner model for low-risk colonoscopy procedures: a cross-sectional survey

The mounting pressure on the Australian healthcare system is driving a continual exploration of areas to improve patient care and access and to maximize utilization of our workforce. We hypothesized that there...

Authors: L. Weinberg, H. Grover, D. Cowie, E. Langley, M. Heland and D. A. Story

Caribbean nurse migration—a scoping review

The migration of Caribbean nurses, particularly to developed countries such as Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom, remains a matter of concern for most countries of the region. With nursing vaca...

Authors: Shamel Rolle Sands, Kenchera Ingraham and Bukola Oladunni Salami

Assessment of dual practice among physicians in Cambodia

Dual practice and multiple job holding are widespread among health workers throughout the world. Although dual practice can help the financially strained public sector retain skilled workers, there are also po...

Authors: Keovathanak Khim, Laura N. Goldman, Kristin Shaw, Jeffrey F. Markuns and Vonthanak Saphonn

Clarifying workforce flexibility from a division of labor perspective: a mixed methods study of an emergency department team

The need for greater flexibility is often used to justify reforms that redistribute tasks through the workforce. However, “flexibility” is never defined or empirically examined. This study explores the nature ...

Authors: Sarah Wise, Christine Duffield, Margaret Fry and Michael Roche

The imperative of evidence-based health workforce planning and implementation: lessons from nurses and midwives unemployment crisis in Ghana

Following periods of health workforce crisis characterised by a severe shortage of nurses, midwives and doctors due to low production rates and excessive out-migration, the Government of Ghana through the Mini...

Authors: James Avoka Asamani, Ninon P. Amertil, Hamza Ismaila, Francis Abande Akugri and Juliet Nabyonga-Orem

Proposing a re-conceptualisation of competency framework terminology for health: a scoping review

Competency frameworks are being taken up by a growing number of sectors and for a broad range of applications. However, the topic of competency frameworks is characterised by conceptual ambiguity, misunderstan...

Authors: Jody-Anne Mills, James W. Middleton, Alison Schafer, Siobhan Fitzpatrick, Stephanie Short and Alarcos Cieza

Development of a toolkit for educators of the wheelchair service provision process: the Seating and Mobility Academic Resource Toolkit (SMART)

Insufficient wheelchair training among rehabilitation professionals has been identified as an important factor that hinders access to appropriate wheelchair services. The aim of this study was to develop a too...

Authors: Paula W. Rushton, Karen Fung, Mélina Gauthier, Mary Goldberg, Maria Toro, Nicky Seymour and Jon Pearlman

Uganda’s laboratory human resource in the era of global health initiatives: experiences, constraints and opportunities—an assessment of 100 facilities

Laboratories are vital in disease diagnosis, prevention, treatment and outbreak investigations. Although recent decades have seen rapid advancements in modernised equipment and laboratory processes, minimal in...

Authors: Suzanne N. Kiwanuka, Noel Namuhani, Martha Akulume, Simeon Kalyesubula, William Bazeyo and Angela N. Kisakye

Medical training for universal health coverage: a review of Cuba–South Africa collaboration

Achieving improvements in Universal Health Coverage will require a re-orientation of medical education towards a stronger focus on primary health care. Innovative medical curricula have been implemented in som...

Authors: Neil Squires, Susannah E. Colville, Kalipso Chalkidou and Shah Ebrahim

The role of private education in the selection of primary care careers in low and middle-income countries. Findings from a representative survey of medical residents in Brazil

Primary health care (PHC) doctors’ numbers are dwindling in high- as well as low-income countries, which is feared to hamper the achievement of Universal Health Coverage goals. As a large proportion of doctors...

Authors: Giuliano Russo, Alex J. Flores Cassenote, Aline G. Alves Guilloux and Mário César Scheffer

Is enhancing the professionalism of healthcare providers critical to tackling antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries?

Healthcare providers’ (HCPs) professionalism refers to their commitment and ability to respond to the health needs of the communities they serve and to act in the best interest of patients. Despite attention t...

Authors: Mishal S. Khan, Sothavireak Bory, Sonia Rego, Sovanthida Suy, Anna Durrance-Bagale, Zia Sultana, Sophea Chhorn, Socheata Phou, Chanra Prien, Sotheara Heng, Johanna Hanefeld, Rumina Hasan and Vonthanak Saphonn

What is known about paediatric nurse burnout: a scoping review

Burnout in healthcare providers has impacts at the level of the individual provider, patient, and organization. While there is a substantial body of literature on burnout in healthcare providers, burnout in pe...

Authors: Laura Buckley, Whitney Berta, Kristin Cleverley, Christina Medeiros and Kimberley Widger

Physician workforce in the United States of America: forecasting nationwide shortages

Physicians play a critical role in healthcare delivery. With an aging US population, population growth, and a greater insured population following the Affordable Care Act (ACA), healthcare demand is growing at...

Authors: Xiaoming Zhang, Daniel Lin, Hugh Pforsich and Vernon W. Lin

Health workforce demography: a framework to improve understanding of the health workforce and support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

The ambition of universal health coverage entails estimation of the number, type and distribution of health workers required to meet the population need for health services. The demography of the population, i...

Authors: Sylvia Szabo, Andrea Nove, Zoë Matthews, Ashish Bajracharya, Ibadat Dhillon, Devendra Raj Singh, Aurora Saares and James Campbell

The impact of a global health elective on CanMEDS competencies and future practice

There is evidence that participating in global health electives generates positive educational outcomes and personal benefits for medical trainees. The objective of this study was to examine the effect and imp...

Authors: Ashley Lanys, Gena Krikler and Rachel F. Spitzer

Dental school tracks related to the retention of dentists in Thai government service: a cross-sectional survey

The shortage of dentists working in rural hospitals is an important public health problem resulting from dentist distribution inequity. The Ministry of Public Health of Thailand (MoPH) has implemented a policy...

Authors: Philaiporn Vivatbutsiri, Thanachok Iempook, Sakda Wonghinkong, Sunisa Sopa and Palinee Detsomboonrat

Task shifting for point-of-care early infant diagnosis: a comparison of the quality of testing between nurses and laboratory personnel in Zimbabwe

To decentralize point-of-care early infant diagnosis (POC EID), task shifting to cadres such as nurses is important. However, this should not compromise quality of testing through generating high rates of inte...

Authors: Francis M. Simmonds, Jennifer E. Cohn, Haurovi W. Mafaune, Tichaona H. Nyamundaya, Agnes Mahomva and Addmore Chadambuka

Nurse staffing in large general hospitals in China: an observational study

The appropriate staffing of nurses not only reflects the situation of nursing management of human resource, but also is related to the nursing quality in hospitals. This study investigated the staffing of nurs...

Authors: Yuchi Shen, Weiyan Jian, Qiufen Zhu, Wei Li, Wenhan Shang and Li Yao

Interventions to improve team effectiveness within health care: a systematic review of the past decade

A high variety of team interventions aims to improve team performance outcomes. In 2008, we conducted a systematic review to provide an overview of the scientific studies focused on these interventions. Howeve...

Authors: Martina Buljac-Samardzic, Kirti D. Doekhie and Jeroen D. H. van Wijngaarden

Do cognitive aids reduce error rates in resuscitation team performance? Trial of emergency medicine protocols in simulation training (TEMPIST) in Australia

Resuscitation of patients with time-critical and life-threatening illness represents a cognitive challenge for emergency room (ER) clinicians. We designed a cognitive aid, the Emergency Protocols Handbook, to ...

Authors: Charlotte Hall, Dean Robertson, Margaret Rolfe, Sharene Pascoe, Megan E. Passey and Sabrina Winona Pit

Hypothesis: improving literacy about health workforce will improve rural health workforce recruitment, retention and capability

One of the key barriers to health in rural areas is health workforce. Poor understanding and communication about health workforce across all stakeholder groups (including the broad community) is very common an...

Authors: Alexandra Martiniuk, Richard Colbran, Robyn Ramsden, Dave Karlson, Emer O’Callaghan, Estrella Lowe, Michael Edwards, Sharif Bagnulo, Imogene Rothnie, Laura Hardaker, Bernadette Gotch and Arna Wotherspoon

Patient satisfaction with physician assistant/associate care: an international scoping review

As the role of the physician assistant/associate grows globally, one question is: what is the level of patient satisfaction with PAs? Driven by legislative enactments to improve access to care, the PA has emer...

Authors: Roderick S. Hooker, Amanda J. Moloney-Johns and Mary M. McFarland

Violence against health care workers in China, 2013–2016: evidence from the national judgment documents

Incidents of patient-initiated workplace violence against health care workers have been a subject of substantial public attention in China. Patient-initiated violence not only represents a risk of harm to heal...

Authors: Ruilie Cai, Ji Tang, Chenhui Deng, Guofan Lv, Xiaohe Xu, Sean Sylvia and Jay Pan

Reducing maternal and newborn mortality in Nigeria—a qualitative study of stakeholders’ perceptions about the performance of community health workers and the introduction of community midwifery at primary healthcare level

Rural communities in Nigeria account for high maternal and newborn mortality rates in the country. Thus, there is a need for innovative models of service delivery, possibly with greater community engagement. I...

Authors: Ekechi Okereke, Salisu Mohammed Ishaku, Godwin Unumeri, Bello Mohammed and Babatunde Ahonsi

Getting more than “claps”: incentive preferences of voluntary community-based mobilizers in Tanzania

Marie Stopes Tanzania works with a voluntary cadre of 66 community-based mobilizers (CBMs), who are tasked with raising awareness, generating demand and providing referral to potential clients for family plann...

Authors: Maryse Kok, Dinu Abdella, Rose Mwangi, Mengi Ntinginya, Ente Rood, Jennifer Gassner, Kathryn Church and Nkemdiri Wheatley

Doctor retention and distribution in post-apartheid South Africa: tracking medical graduates (2007–2011) from one university

Doctor emigration from low- and middle-income countries represents a financial loss and threatens the equitable delivery of healthcare. In response to government imperatives to produce more health professional...

Authors: Ann George, Duane Blaauw, Jarred Thompson and Lionel Green-Thompson

Remote health workforce turnover and retention: what are the policy and practice priorities?

Residents of remote communities in Australia and other geographically large countries have comparatively poorer access to high-quality primary health care. To inform ongoing policy development and practice in ...

Authors: John Wakerman, John Humphreys, Deborah Russell, Steven Guthridge, Lisa Bourke, Terry Dunbar, Yuejen Zhao, Mark Ramjan, Lorna Murakami-Gold and Michael P. Jones

Critical success factors for the implementation and adoption of e-learning for junior health care workers in Dadaab refugee camp Kenya

This paper presents the results of a case study that analyses the critical factors that influence the implementation of professional health education via blended learning in Dadaab refugee camp. It explores in...

Authors: Aude D. Burkardt, Nicerine Krause and Minerva C. Rivas Velarde

‘Everything was just getting worse and worse’: deteriorating job quality as a driver of doctor emigration from Ireland

Medicine is a high-status, high-skill occupation which has traditionally provided access to good quality jobs and relatively high salaries. In Ireland, historic underfunding combined with austerity-related cut...

Authors: N. Humphries, A. M. McDermott, E. Conway, J-P Byrne, L. Prihodova, R. Costello and A. Matthews

Employment preferences of obstetricians and gynecologists to work in the district hospitals: evidence from a discrete choice experiment in Nepal

A mismatch between the requirement and annual production of obstetricians and gynecologists (OBs-GYNs) was observed in Nepal. On top of that, recruitment and retention of OBs-GYNs is a pressing problem, especi...

Authors: Bishnu Gautam, Vishnu Prasad Sapkota and Rajendra Raj Wagle

Nurse prescribing of medicines in 13 European countries

Nurse prescribing of medicines is increasing worldwide, but there is limited research in Europe. The objective of this study was to analyse which countries in Europe have adopted laws on nurse prescribing.

Authors: Claudia B. Maier

Career mobility of maternal care providers in Mali: a mixed method study on midwives and obstetric nurses

An important strategy to reduce maternal and child mortality in Mali is to increase the number of deliveries assisted by qualified personnel in primary care facilities, especially in rural areas. However, plac...

Authors: Cheick Sidya Sidibé, Ousmane Touré, Laurence Codjia, Assa Sidibé Keïta, Jacqueline E. W. Broerse and Marjolein Dieleman

The effects of maternity waiting homes on the health workforce and maternal health service delivery in rural Zambia: a qualitative analysis

Maternity waiting homes (MWHs) are a potential strategy to address low facility delivery rates resulting from access-associated barriers in resource-limited settings. Within a cluster-randomized controlled tri...

Authors: Jeanette L. Kaiser, Rachel M. Fong, Thandiwe Ngoma, Kathleen Lucile McGlasson, Godfrey Biemba, Davidson H. Hamer, Misheck Bwalya, Maynards Chasaya and Nancy A. Scott

Pre- and in-service training of health care workers on immunization data management in LMICs: a scoping review

Healthcare providers (HCPs) are recognized as one of the cornerstones and drivers of health interventions. Roles such as documentation of patient care, data management, analysing, interpreting and appropriate ...

Authors: Edward Nicol, Eunice Turawa and George Bonsu

Reforming medical education admission and training in low- and middle-income countries: who gets admitted and why it matters

Recent studies reveal public-sector healthcare providers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are frequently absent from work, solicit informal payments for service delivery, and engage in disrespectful...

Authors: Katherine Tumlinson, Dilshad Jaff, Barbara Stilwell, Dickens Otieno Onyango and Kenneth L. Leonard

Workforce requirements for comprehensive ischaemic stroke care in a developing country: the case of Saudi Arabia

Ischaemic stroke care requires a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary approach to optimise patient outcomes. Current care provision in Saudi Arabia is below international recommendations, and with increasing patien...

Authors: Fahmi Al-Senani, Mohammad Salawati, Mohammed AlJohani, Matthieu Cuche, Valeska Seguel Ravest and Simon Eggington

Workplace bullying and its impact on the quality of healthcare and patient safety

Workplace bullying (WPB) is a physical or emotional harm that may negatively affect healthcare services. The aim of this study was to determine to what extent healthcare practitioners in Saudi Arabia worry abo...

Authors: Munirah Al Omar, Mahmoud Salam and Khaled Al-Surimi

Migration intentions of Asian and African medical students educated in China: a cross-sectional study

In recent years, the number of students from Asian and African countries to study medicine in China has been on the rise. This study investigated the migration intentions of China-educated international medica...

Authors: Wen Li and Hong Sun

The precarization of the Mexican nursing labor market: a repeated cross-sectional analysis for the period 2005–2018

Precarization of labor conditions has been expanding over the last three decades as a consequence of global economic transformations. The health workforce labor market is exposed to these transformations as we...

Authors: Patricia Aristizabal, Gustavo Nigenda and Edson Serván-Mori

A conceptual framework for measuring community health workforce performance within primary health care systems

With the 40th anniversary of the Declaration of Alma-Ata, a global effort is underway to re-focus on strengthening primary health care systems, with emphasis on leveraging community health workers (CHWs) towar...

Authors: Smisha Agarwal, Pooja Sripad, Caroline Johnson, Karen Kirk, Ben Bellows, Joseph Ana, Vince Blaser, Meghan Bruce Kumar, Kathleen Buchholz, Alain Casseus, Nan Chen, Hannah Sarah Faich Dini, Rachel Hoy Deussom, David Jacobstein, Richard Kintu, Nazo Kureshy…

Psychological wellbeing in a resource-limited work environment: examining levels and determinants among health workers in rural Malawi

A competent, responsive, and productive health workforce is central to a well-performing health system capable of providing universal access to high-quality care. Ensuring health workers’ psychological wellbei...

Authors: Julia Lohmann, Olzhas Shulenbayev, Danielle Wilhelm, Adamson S. Muula and Manuela De Allegri

Correction to: Feminisation of the health workforce and wage conditions of health professions: an exploratory analysis

The original article [1] contained an error in the presentation of all figures and tables; each figure and table is now set out and designated appropriately in the original article.

Authors: Geordan Shannon, Nicole Minckas, Des Tan, Hassan Haghparast-Bidgoli, Neha Batura and Jenevieve Mannell

Transforming tuberculosis (TB) service delivery model in China: issues and challenges for health workforce

China’s TB control system has been transforming its service delivery model from CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)-led model to the designated hospital-led model to combat the high disease burden...

Authors: Ziyue Wang, Weixi Jiang, Yuhong Liu, Lijie Zhang, Anna Zhu, Shenglan Tang and Xiaoyun Liu

The impacts of training pathways and experiences during intern year on doctor emigration from Ireland

Emigration of domestically-trained health professionals is widespread, including in Ireland which has the highest rate of medical graduates in the OECD. Ireland’s failure to retain graduates necessitates high ...

Authors: Frances Cronin, Nicholas Clarke, Louise Hendrick, Ronan Conroy and Ruairi Brugha

Job satisfaction of public and private primary care physicians in Malaysia: analysis of findings from QUALICO-PC

Job satisfaction of doctors is an important factor determining quality and performance of a health system. The aim of this study was to assess job satisfaction among doctors of the public and private primary c...

Authors: N. Ab Rahman, M. Husin, K. Dahian, K. Mohamad Noh, R. Atun and S. Sivasampu