On-site Global Capacity Building

The UM SONHS CC works with PAHO headquarters in Washington, D.C., with PAHO/WHO’s subregional in-country offices, and with national health ministries throughout the Americas to build nursing education, research and clinical capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a special focus on critically under-resourced regions. The ultimate aim is to strengthen access to quality health care education and care delivery for all populations through an “educate the educators” framework. In this model, every nursing educator, researcher or clinician who undergoes education in underserved regions is also instructed on how to provide that knowledge to others. This creates a positive ripple effect. Described here are our most promising global capacity building projects.


Capacitating Guyana’s Nurse Educators

The UM SONHS Collaborating Centre partnered with the PAHO/WHO Subregional Office in Guyana and the Guyana Ministry of Health to facilitate the Nursing Education Certificate Program for a contingent of Guyana’s nurse educators selected by the country’s Ministry of Health. This is a hybrid (i.e. combination online and face-to-face onsite) 24-week, four course program customized to the specific conditions of Guyana’s nurse educators. Preliminary results indicate a high degree of positive overall satisfaction with the course and attainment of program goals, including equipping Guyana nurse tutors with knowledge on best practices in didactic and clinical nursing instruction, and capacitating them to train other faculty members in these practices. The overall goals of this project include systems-wide and maintainable improvement in the Guyana nursing education infrastructure, as well as design of a replicable and sustainable educational product that can be utilized in other countries with similar nursing education support needs. This initiative was recognized with the 2017 Sigma Theta Tau International honor society of nursing’s “Excellence in Educational Research” Award. It has been highlighted in a number of healthcare publications and reports as a noteworthy, relevant, and exemplary hemispheric initiative.