Uganda: Nurse-to-Nurse Global Initiative
In the summer of 2013, as doctoral students at UCSF, we committed to initiate the first collaborative partnership with Makerere University’s Department of Nursing in Uganda under the Nurse-to-Nurse Global Initiative (NTNGI).
The summer workshop was one of the first steps towards NTNGI’s mission of fostering international collaborations through collegial dialogue and exchange of knowledge between nurses in the United States and those in developing countries, starting with East Africa.
Nursing is the largest professional sector of the global health care workforce and delivers the majority of primary care in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there is a shortage of nurses in this region, which can partly be attributed to the exodus of highly trained nurses to more affluent countries.
This inability to develop a sustainable workforce is influenced by other professional barriers, such as inadequate educational advancement, lack of promotion and leadership opportunities, unsafe practice environments and poorly funded health care systems.
Consequently, nurses in sub-Saharan Africa routinely confront daunting challenges that are beyond their control. Nevertheless, they are responsible for delivering quality care to a large population vulnerable to a myriad diseases.
The Nurse-to-Nurse Global Initiative is committed to the development of workforce capacity and empowerment of nurses as leaders, scholars and research scientists in sub-Saharan Africa through collaborative partnerships.
For more information on the Nurse-To-Nurse Global Initiative, contact Schola Matovu at Schola.Matovu@ucsf.edu or Linda Gregory at Linda.Gregory@ucsf.edu.
