Decentralized nurse training, Zambia
The Zambian health sector faces multiple challenges. Mortality rates – which are attributed to an inadequate supply of health care services and a critical and persistent lack of skilled health care professionals – remain very high.
Owing to recent rapid population growth, estimates predict a shortage of 10,000 skilled health care workers. These challenges are particularly acute in the rural areas of Zambia.
Objectives
Improving the health care system in rural areas of Zambia
Innovating the education system for health care workers
Project description
Together with our partner SolidarMed, we are implementing a practical and decentralized education system for nurses to improve access to health care for the rural population. The decentralized model works by partnering one large hospital with several rural hospitals for education purposes. This increases the annual intake of students and it also ensures high quality training. In addition to education, adequate housing is crucial to retaining health care workers in the rural villages. Therefore, we are working with SolidarInvest which builds affordable and safe homes for nursing personnel in rural areas. By combining education and housing the program has become a real success.
Impact
Every two years 1,500 students graduate from three major hospitals in rural Zambia
Curriculum and training guides were developed and have been accredited by the Ministry of Health
42 training institutions operated the new training model
Partner organization
SolidarMed is an international aid organization based in Switzerland specializing in training medical professionals in East and South Africa.
Currently active in Zambia, SolidarInvest operates as a not-for-profit cooperative and builds staff houses for rural health personnel.