“For most of us nurse tutors, the THANE training is the first HIV/AIDS training we’ve ever had. It’s opened our eyes to the dramatic changes in HIV/AIDS services around the country. Nurses are on the frontline in hospitals and health centers, so if nurse tutors are able to better prepare their students on HIV/AIDS, the quality of services will increase considerably.”

     Angasyege Kibona, master trainer and nurse tutor at Muhimbili 

     Diploma Nursing School.

Nurses are frontline caregivers, constituting the largest healthcare provider workforce in Tanzania, yet existing pre-service programs are not responsive to the educational needs of this cadre.

In response, AIHA’s Tanzania Nursing Initiative (TNI) is building the capacity of nursing schools to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to provide quality care to the people of Tanzania. TNI was initially launched through a Twinning Center partnership that linked the School of Nursing at Muhimbili University College of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam with the University of California at San Francisco School of Nursing.

Currently, AIHA and its partners at Muhimbili and other nursing schools throughout the country work closely with Tanzania's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, CDC/Tanzania, and other national and international stakeholders, providing technical assistance for faculty training and curriculum development, as well as other much-needed support for the nursing profession.

Partners developed a new HIV/AIDS care curriculum and, to date, have trained 398 nurse tutors on the material, which is being implemented at 65 nursing schools in the country. Partners are also improving learning environments at targeted schools through the installation of Skills Labs and International Council of Nursing Mobile Libraries. And, they are strengthening nursing leadership capacity within the country by providing support to the Tanzania Nurses and Midwives Council (TNMC), the Tanzania National Nurses Association (TANNA), and other relevant professional stakeholders.

Following is an overview of some of the partnership's key accomplishments:

Through TNI, partners developed and are implementing the Tanzania HIV/AIDS Nursing Education (THANE) curriculum, a comprehensive training package with a training-of-trainers component that integrates HIV/AIDS care and life skills content into pre-service curricula at nursing schools throughout Tanzania. The THANE modules are helping to ensure that graduating nurses are equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to provide high quality healthcare services to people living with HIV or AIDS.

In support of THANE's roll-out to nursing schools throughout the country, partners conducted a series of zonal training-of-trainers workshops, resulting in 352 nurse tutors being trained to deliver the THANE resource tools. Based on pre- and post-test analysis, participants increased their knowledge of HIV/AIDS subject matter by nearly 20 percent and also reported a significant increase in confidence in their ability to teach the new HIV/AIDS content. In addition, 18 master trainers trained through the project helped facilitate zonal training workshops thus sharpening their subject matter knowledge and teaching skills.

Partners also assisted the Nursing Unit of Tanzania’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to develop new curricula for certificate and diploma programs under the government’s Primary Health Services Development Program. This program is designed to increase the country’s healthcare workforce by — among other things — shortening the duration of pre-service education for selected professions, including nursing. To this end, partners conducted a five-week curricula development workshop in late 2007 for some 25 nursing tutors and experts to ensure relevant HIV/AIDS content was incorporated into the new curricula.

In May 2009, partners began conducting orientation workshops designed to improve the quality of nursing education by bolstering nurse tutors’ understanding of THANE content and better ensure its integration into certificate and diploma programs in nursing. Initially, orientations will be held in three zones, training a cohort of 100 nurse tutors before being rolled out nationwide.

They are also helping to ensure the revised curricula and related materials — including the THANE resource tools — are being utilized in all of the country’s nursing schools and that national nursing examinations reflect the HIV/AIDS content. In addition, they routinely conduct site visits to nursing schools to observe training courses and evaluate how the HIV/AIDS content has been integrated into various aspects of nurse education, as well as evaluate the quality of instruction. During these visits, students are be interviewed to gauge their individual perceptions and thoughts on HIV/AIDS, along with how they are utilizing the life skills taught through the THANE resource tools.

Updated November 15, 2011