Strengthening Africa’s children’s nursing workforce through contextualised training
1
Children's Nursing Development Unit, Department of paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A1125
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Global progress in reducing child mortality is slowing and millions of children are still dying from preventable causes1 This 2025 report indicates that the highest under-5 mortality is in sub-Saharan Africa. While countries in the WHO Africa region have made measurable progress in strengthening health systems and the health workforce, central to how health systems work and how services are delivered is an adequately prepared and educated health workforce. While nurses and midwives comprise the majority (37%) of the region’s health workforce2 ,undergraduate training programmes usually include only basic child health.
METHODS:
The Children’s Nursing Development Unit, a teaching and scholarship unit at the University of Cape Town has developed a three-fold approach to building children’s nursing capacity in the Africa Region. Offering postgraduate training, working alongside educators and Schools of Nursing across the region and working with clinical leaders to articulate and establish best practice models that provide safe and quality care in local settings.
RESULTS:
Postgraduate training is increasingly recognised as important to prepare practice ready nurses for African's health systems. The 2025 WHO Prototype Asset-Based Curriculum for Paediatric and Child Health Nursing provides a useful guide to curriculum approach and content3. Initiating new or adapting existing in-country child health nursing training requires wide stakeholder engagement and enrolment in teaching and learning methods that are locally appropriate and Afrocentric by design.
CONCLUSIONS:
This paper will describe the Unit’s process of participative curriculum design including approaches and tools utilised in developing postgraduate curricula with colleagues in eight schools of nursing across six African countries4. Strategies will include identification and enrolment of local stakeholders5 systems mapping and an asset-based approach to the development of local care models and resources6 aligned with the goal of best outcomes for children and their families.
Global progress in reducing child mortality is slowing and millions of children are still dying from preventable causes1 This 2025 report indicates that the highest under-5 mortality is in sub-Saharan Africa. While countries in the WHO Africa region have made measurable progress in strengthening health systems and the health workforce, central to how health systems work and how services are delivered is an adequately prepared and educated health workforce. While nurses and midwives comprise the majority (37%) of the region’s health workforce2 ,undergraduate training programmes usually include only basic child health.
METHODS:
The Children’s Nursing Development Unit, a teaching and scholarship unit at the University of Cape Town has developed a three-fold approach to building children’s nursing capacity in the Africa Region. Offering postgraduate training, working alongside educators and Schools of Nursing across the region and working with clinical leaders to articulate and establish best practice models that provide safe and quality care in local settings.
RESULTS:
Postgraduate training is increasingly recognised as important to prepare practice ready nurses for African's health systems. The 2025 WHO Prototype Asset-Based Curriculum for Paediatric and Child Health Nursing provides a useful guide to curriculum approach and content3. Initiating new or adapting existing in-country child health nursing training requires wide stakeholder engagement and enrolment in teaching and learning methods that are locally appropriate and Afrocentric by design.
CONCLUSIONS:
This paper will describe the Unit’s process of participative curriculum design including approaches and tools utilised in developing postgraduate curricula with colleagues in eight schools of nursing across six African countries4. Strategies will include identification and enrolment of local stakeholders5 systems mapping and an asset-based approach to the development of local care models and resources6 aligned with the goal of best outcomes for children and their families.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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