Resource Type: Brief
Authors: Health Finance and Governance Project
Published: September 2018

Resource Description: The impact study sought to understand the extent to which the placed nurses and midwives were practicing task sharing, and capture information about these health workers’ satisfaction on the job and challenges encountered. The study took a representative sample of 80 nurses and midwives from across the eight health districts out of 218 known to be placed in units providing HIV/AIDS care and treatment as part of some or all of their services. Health Directors at each of the health districts were also interviewed on their knowledge and attitude toward implementation of task-sharing in their district. Fifty-one women and 29 men were interviewed, of which 41 were nurses and 39 midwives. Most of the nurses and midwives interviewed were posted at the primary care level (65%). The remaining participants practiced at secondary or tertiary referral hospitals (29% and 6% respectively). Investigators reached the study participants by phone and interviewed them according to a structured interviewed tool.

The impact study suggests that Cote d’Ivoire’s initial efforts to implement HIV task sharing in high burden HIV districts have succeeded.  Because a significantly higher proportion of nurses and midwives were able to practice task sharing at the primary care level, the Ministry of Health may want to prioritize posting health workers with these competencies at primary care facilities to maximize the use of their full scope of practice. Further studies could also help shed light on why these health workers’ competencies are underutilized at higher levels of care.