Involvement and incorporation of essential health interventions into health curriculum: a case of diploma in nursing schools Dar es salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

Background National governments and international agencies, have commitment in scaling up health interventions and meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Scaling up health intervention means expanding health services that are only reaching small population to the national level. Examples of basic interventions are Malaria Treatment, ART, IMCI, FANC, EmONC, PMTCT, HIV and TB. The question is “to what extent, institutions training health service providers are involved and incorporating these essential health interventions into their health curriculum?” Objective The main objective of this study was to assess involvement of training institutions which offer diploma in nursing in incorporating essential health interventions (HIV/TB) into their health curriculum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methodology This study involved four universities which offer diploma in nursing in Dar es Salam, one public (Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences) and three were owned by private organizations (International Medical Training University- IMTU, Agakhani University and Hurbet Kairuki Memorial University. Two respondents were recruited for IDIs from MoHSW and ITECH. Four Principals of the schools and 21 tutors in four universities were interviewed. Qualitative data was analyzed using Framework Analysis while quantitative data were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Results Health interventions are included in training curricula. Few tutors are involved in some stages of curriculum development and few have attended the courses to teach the interventions in recent years. There are also problem in availability and accessibility of teaching and learning materials for students. Conclusions and Recommendations It is concluded that training institutions are less involved in updating of curricula, tutors and teaching and learning materials. Seminars and workshops should also consider pre-service nurses and their tutors. This will result in having competent graduates and reduce greatly absenteeism from work place for in-service workers as most workshops are done outside working stations.