How National Health Workforce Accounts Can Help Governments Achieve Universal Health Coverage
Better health workforce data can help.
Pamela McQuide, PhD, RN has over 20 years of international experience in the field of global health. She brings extensive expertise in human resource planning and management, health workforce data generation and use, human resource information systems (HRIS), health policy, and health services research. In her recent role as IntraHealth’s country director for Namibia, McQuide oversaw management of the USAID Technical Assistance Project, including assisting faith-based organizations to strengthen their organizational capacity and make data-driven decisions. She led the national effort to apply Workload Indicators of Staffing Needs (WISN) to assess staff requirements at all Namibian public sector facilities and worked with the Ministry of Health and Social Services on human resources management strategies to ensure equitable access to quality services.
Better health workforce data can help.
Years ago, at a workshop on shaping health policy for nurse leaders, I heard a speaker say, “Nurses are this country’s best kept secret, and we need to wake up.”
In places where there are no nurses or doctors or people have to travel a distance to see one, community health workers play an invaluable role of offering basic health care and information to often isolated or remote communities