UNIVERSITY OF NATAL, SCHOOL OF NURSING
WHO Collaborating Centre for Educating Nurses and Midwives in Community Problem-Solving​
WEBSITE

DIRECTORS
Prof. Ntombifikile Mtshali
Dr. Euphemia Mbali Mhlongo

STAFF
Prof. Petra Brysiewicz
Dr. MaryAnn Jarvis
Dr. Waheedha Emmamally
Prof. Busisiwe Ncama

As requested by WHO and together with WHO, conduct research and disseminate evidence for community problem-solving approaches for Nursing and Midwifery education and practice in African Region.

In agreement with WHO, provide support in promoting capacity development of Nursing and Midwifery education institutions in community problem-solving approaches to health care in the African Region.

Under WHO’s leadership, support WHO in working with communities using problem-solving approaches to address priority health problems, focusing on maternal and child health, mental health, HIV/AIDS and TB, non-communicable diseases and health emergencies such as Covid-19.

ANNUAL REPORT 2021

University of KwaZulu-Natal WHOCC celebrating Year of the Nurse

    • Participated in the AFREhealth COVID19 Nursing Education Webinar – 190820, themed Conundrums for nursing education in the era of COVID-WHOCC Presentation was titled: Didactic teaching and learning: perspectives of students and faculty in South Africa.
    • Co-authored with a team from South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) “The Paper Bag”, a resource manual contributing to psycho-social and physical health of the Elderly living in residential care settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social workers from NGO for elderly supported weekly as they implemented the manual.
    • Finalized the National Strategic Plan for Nursing and Midwifery Education, Training and Practice as part of the Ministerial Task Team.
    • Co-developed a step-by-step guide for starting and facilitating a WhatsApp support group for distribution nationally by SADAG (South African Depression and Anxiety Group).
    • Contributed in developing the step-by-step guide for starting and facilitating a WhatsApp support group for distribution nationally by SADAG (South African Depression and Anxiety Group).
    • Serving on the Ministerial Advisory Committees (MAC), that was set up to provide evidence-based advice to the Minister of Health on Covid-19 management in South Africa.
    • Involved in developing Provincial Department of Health (DoH) Health Promotion Strategy to mitigate the spread of COVID 19 through behavioural change and empowerment of communities.

ANNUAL REPORT 2019

University of KwaZulu-Natal WHOCC Faculty in a curriculum review workshop

    • As part of strengthen nursing and midwifery workforce in the African Region, the WHOCC is involved in building the capacity of nursing and midwifery educators in developing competency-based curricula or in adapting WHO Afro Region Prototype Competency-based Curricula. The National University of Lesotho supported by our WHOCC has submitted successfully their competency-based curriculum to the Lesotho Council of Higher Education and Lesotho Nursing Council. The first cohort of 25 students was accepted to the programme this year. The WHOCC has also provided technical support to the National Health Training College in developing competency-based postgraduate programmes; the Advanced Midwifery and Neonatal Nursing; as well as Public Health Nursing. These programmes are ready for submission for accreditation by the regulatory bodies in the Lesotho. The WHOCC is also supporting the KwaZulu-Natal College of Nursing in developing six competency-based postgraduate curricula, which are aligned to the competency-framework produced regulatory body.  

    • The WHOCC collaborated with the International Council of Nurses on the ICN TB/MDR-TB Project, aimed at building the research capacity of nurses in this field. In February 2019, the WHOCC hosted a week-long workshop in Durban; South Africa, which was attended by nurses from eight countries; Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, and Zambia.  

    • The WHOCC in collaboration with the Department of Health and John Hopkins University is running an MDR-TB Management and has trained 300 professional nurses in the KwaZulu-Natal Province.

    • The WHOCC is also providing technical support to the office of the Government Chief Nursing and Officer in reviewing the current National Strategic Plan for Nursing Education, Training and Practice.

    • Ngoma-Hazemba, A., & Ncama, B. P. (2018). The role of community volunteers in PMTCT programme: Lessons from selected sites in Zambia to strengthen health education on infant feeding and follow-up of HIV-positive mother-infant pair. African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 10(1), 1-8. 
    • Mukamana, D., Brysiewicz, P., Collins, A., & Rosa, W. (2018). Recovery from Genocide Rape Trauma: An Integrated Theoretical Framework for Supporting Survivors. Advances in Nursing Science, 4(1), 41-56. 
    • Baloyi, O. B., & Mtshali, N. G. (2018b). Developing clinical reasoning skills in an undergraduate midwifery program: A grounded theory inquiry. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 8, 98-106. 
    • Emmamally, W., & Brysiewicz, P. (2018). Family-centred practices of healthcare professionals in three emergency departments in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Southern African Journal of Critical Care, 34(2), 38-43. 
    • Barnes, R., Clarke, D., Farina, Z., Sartorius, B., Brysiewicz, P., Laing, G., Bruce, J., & Kong, V. (2018). Vital sign based shock scores are poor at triaging South African trauma patients. The American Journal of Surgery, 216(2), 235-239
    • Onyenwenyi, A., & Mchunu, G. (2018). Barriers to cervical cancer screening uptake among rural women in South West Nigeria: A qualitative study. South African Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 24(1), 19-23. 
    • Bvumbwe, T., & Mtshali, N. G. (2018). Nursing education challenges and solutions in Sub Saharan Africa: an integrative review. BMC nursing, 17(1), 3. doi: http://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-018-0272-4
    • Wentzel, D., & Brysiewicz, P. (2018). A survey of compassion satisfaction, burnout and compassion fatigue in nurses practicing in three oncology departments in Durban, South Africa. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 8, 82-86. 
    • Bvumbwe, T., & Mtshali, N. (2018a). Transition-to-practice guidelines: Enhancing the quality of nursing education. African Journal of Health Professions Education, 10(1), 66
    • Dayananda, K., Kong, V., Bruce, J., Oosthuizen, G., Laing, G., Brysiewicz, P., & Clarke, D. (2018). A selective non-operative approach to thoracic stab wounds is safe and cost effective – a South African experience. The Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England, 100(8), 641-649. 
    • Hosted an International Council of Nurses: TB/MDR-TB Project Workshop for nurses from 8 countries in Africa
    • 20th Celebration of existences as a WHOCC
    • Forum of University Dean’s of Nursing conference 

The WHO is involved in an International, Multisite Study conducted in Intensive Care Units in ten countries; Australia, Austria, England, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States of America. This study is conducted by a research cluster group of the International Family Nursing Association. Attached to this project are 3 masters, 1 PhD and 1 postdoc students working on research projects within the area of family-centered/family-focused care, being supervised by Prof Brysiewicz, who is serving as a co-chair of this research group.

The WHOCC is involved in a project titled Developing Research Innovation, Localization and Leadership (DRILL) Project, which is funded through the NIH Fogarty grant. The DRILL project aims to capacitate, train and produce, over five years, twenty world-class health researchers to lead socially valuable, locally relevant and culturally sensitive research programs around health challenges in South Africa. The grant is currently mid-way. The project has 20 fellows.