Integrating nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in Africa: a scoping review

Background: Information and communication technologies have become omnipresent in healthcare systems globally, and since nurses comprise the majority of the health sector workforce, they are expected to be adequately skilled to work in a technology-mediated environment. Integrating nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education is a cornerstone to nursing education and practice in Africa. Aim: This scoping review aimed to evidence the integration of nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in Africa. Methods: A scoping review of the literature used electronic databases including CINAHL Plus databases; EmCare; MEDLINE Ovid; Scopus; ERIC ProQuest; Web of Science; Google; and Google Scholar to locate papers specific to the African context. From a total of 8723 articles, 19 were selected for critique and synthesis. Results: Selected studies indicated that nursing students used several information and communication technologies tools primarily for academic purposes, and rarely for clinical practice. In Africa, the challenges for teaching informatics in nursing education included: limited information and communication technologies skills among faculty and students; poor teaching strategies; and a lack of standardization of nursing informatics competencies. Successful integration of nursing informatics into undergraduate nursing education in African countries depends on restructuring nursing informatics content and teaching strategies, capacity building of the faculty and students in information and communication technologies, political commitment, and collaborative partnership. Conclusion: Nursing informatics is scarce in undergraduate nursing education in Africa due to the implementation and adoption challenges. Responding to these challenges requires a multi-sectoral approach in the revision of undergraduate nursing curricula. Implication for nursing education, practice, policy and research: This study highlights the importance of nursing informatics in undergraduate nursing education, with its challenges and success. Nursing education policies should support the development of well-standardized nursing informatics content and appropriate teaching strategies to deliver it. Further research is needed to establish which aspects of nursing informatics are integrated into undergraduate nursing education and nursing practice, implementation process, challenges and possible solutions. Collaborative partnerships are vital to developing nursing informatics policies to better prepare graduate nurses for the African healthcare workforce in the digital era

Advancing the science of health research capacity strengthening in low-income and middle-income countries: a scoping review of the published literature, 2000–2016

Objectives Substantial development assistance and research funding are invested in health research capacity strengthening (HRCS) interventions in low-income and middle-income countries, yet the effectiveness, impact and value for money of these investments are not well understood. A major constraint to evidence-informed HRCS intervention has been the disparate nature of the research effort to date. This review aims to map and critically analyse the existing HRCS effort to better understand the level, type, cohesion and conceptual sophistication of the current evidence base. The overall goal of this article is to advance the development of a unified, implementation-focused HRCS science. Methods We used a scoping review methodology to identify peer-reviewed HRCS literature within the following databases: PubMed, Global Health and Scopus. HRCS publications available in English between the period 2000 and 2016 were included. 1195 articles were retrieved of which 172 met the final inclusion criteria. A priori thematic analysis of all included articles was completed. Content analysis of identified HRCS definitions was conducted. Results The number of HRCS publications increased exponentially between 2000 and 2016. Most publications during this period were perspective, opinion or commentary pieces; however, original research publications were the primary publication type since 2013. Twenty-five different definitions of research capacity strengthening were identified, of which three aligned with current HRCS guidelines. Conclusions The review findings indicate that an HRCS research field with a focus on implementation science is emerging, although the conceptual and empirical bases are not yet sufficiently advanced to effectively inform HRCS programme planning. Consolidating an HRCS implementation science therefore presents as a viable option that may accelerate the development of a useful evidence base to inform HRCS programme planning. Identifying an agreed operational definition of HRCS, standardising HRCS-related terminology, developing a needs-based HRCS-specific research agenda and synthesising currently available evidence may be useful first steps

A Namibian digital health innovation ecosystem framework

Digital Health relates to “health information systems which enable the merging of social-care and healthcare systems. This would impact on the organisation, service delivery as well as the technological infrastructure” (Herselman & Botha, 2016, p.10). However, with relatively sparse research publications emanating from within the Namibian Health domain, and the concept of Namibian Digital Health as an emergent phenomenon, a Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem Framework would provide a start to conceptualising, developing and implementing such an ecosystem for Namibia and thus unlocking the potential of Digital Health in this country. The purpose of this study is to develop a Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem Framework based on literature reviews and the feedback from knowledgeable professionals (KPs) in Namibia, as well as global experts. The methodology which was applied in this study to address the purpose, and to answer the research questions, was Design Science Research Methodology and the Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) process of Peffers, Tuunanen, Rothenberger and Chatterjee (2008), was adopted. Pragmatism is the overall philosophy guiding the study, as proposed by Ackoff’s theory regarding the hierarchy of human understanding (1989) and Shneiderman’s visual information seeking mantra (1996). During Phases 2 and 3 of the study interpretivism and positivism were applied as philosophies, guided by hermeneutics and triangulation, towards understanding the feedback of Knowledgeable Professionals (KPs) in Namibia, as well as the global experts. The study was divided into three phases. The first phase entailed a literature study which identified the components of Digital Health, Innovation and Digital Ecosystems as well as related research of Digital health, Innovation and Digital Ecosystems in developed and developing countries. This process led to the compilation of the initial Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem Framework using a conceptual approach. In the second phase of the study, the initial Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem was evaluated by KPs in Namibia using the Delphi method and interviews. Phase 2 adopted both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The findings from Phase 2 resulted in the development of the intermediate Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem Framework. In Phase 3 of the study, the intermediate framework was validated by global experts. Feedback was collected from global experts through questionnaires which were analysed through qualitative content analysis. The findings, from Phase 3 led to the development of the final Namibian Digital Health Innovation Ecosystems Framework. The guidelines, which can be used by the Namibian government to implement the suggested digital health innovation ecosystem framework, were also provided.Information ScienceD. Litt. et Phil. (Information Systems

Examining the Management Processes and Practices of Health Research Capacity Strengthening Consortia

Health research plays a critical role in the development of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Accordingly, global efforts to strengthen health research capacity in LMICs have intensified in the past few decades, increasingly through consortia. Reports on health research capacity strengthening (HRCS) consortia have primarily focused on programme outputs and outcomes. Implementation processes and their implications for consortia goals have rarely been studied in depth. In this thesis, I examined how management processes and practices used by LMIC-led HRCS consortia influence the realization of broader research capacity outcomes. In the exploratory phase of the study, I used a qualitative approach to identify consortium management processes and factors influencing these processes. This was followed by a multiple case study design in which I examined in more depth the decision-making considerations in consortium management, factors that influenced consortia’s strategy choices, and how those strategies enabled or hindered capacity strengthening. Similar management structures and processes were used by the consortia studied, but consortia adopted different strategies in executing management processes. The findings demonstrate that decision-making in consortium management can be highly complex, as it involves tensions between compelling alternatives. Resulting trade-offs do not always align with capacity strengthening principles. Perceptions of research capacity and its strengthening, funder expectations, and both perceived and stated programme success indicators significantly influenced management decisions. Although consortium management processes are capacity strengthening mechanisms in their own right, this was not fully appreciated, planned for, or leveraged in the consortia studied. Drawing on these findings, I have presented a conceptual framework which lays out factors to consider in determining consortium management strategies that promote capacity strengthening. Considering the increasing investment in HRCS consortia, highlighting how consortium processes influence capacity strengthening is instructive for enhancing policy and practice, and optimizing returns on HRCS investments