Project News

The 3rd workshop of the Online Workshop Series on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for Nurses was held on 29 September 2022. Around 50 participants and 20 observers from 13 countries joined. In the 3rd workshop, we covered two topics: "CPD system for specific fields of nursing and specialists" and "CPD system for nursing management/ administration".

For the first part of the workshop, "CPD system for specific fields of nursing and specialists", Prof. Dr. Siriorn Sindhu, President of the Nurses' Association of Thailand, gave a keynote presentation on CPD for nursing specialization in line with health policy. Then, the speakers from Indonesia and Kenya shared their situation and good practices.

Indonesia has set up the nursing specialist system in five fields, namely paediatric, psychiatric, community, maternity, and medical surgical nursing. To become a nursing specialist, one is required to complete the master's program in the field and then the specialist education stage. Nurses in Indonesia can also obtain certificates of expertise by participating in training activities in specific fields. The training programs are classified into three levels: basic, intermediate, and advanced.

The Nursing Council of Kenya has recently approved CPD programs for four specific fields: critical care, mental health, oncology, and midwifery. These fields cover the critical issues that the country is currently dealing with. The provision of training programs in these specific fields has already started in several universities. At the same time, they are working on the development of the programs and system.

For the second part, "CPD system for nursing management/ administration", Ms. Kaori Hakuno, Chief of the Department of Credentialing, Japanese Nursing Association, explained the Certified Nurse Administrator System in Japan as another keynote presentation. Then, the speakers from Cambodia and Bangladesh shared their situation and good practice.

Cambodia does not yet have a national CPD system for nursing management/ administration, but there are some healthcare institutions that conduct nursing management trainings within their institutions. The speaker from Cambodia shared about the nursing management training conducted in the National Pediatric Hospital which targets all head and deputy head nurses in the hospitals. It aims to improve the knowledge and skills necessary for all managers to become more effective leaders and to contribute to achieving the hospital's goals.

Like Cambodia, Bangladesh is also at the stage of developing the CPD system. The speaker presented the overview of the CPD system that they are currently working on developing. Management training for administrators is one of the important contents that the country is focusing on.

The speaker from Indonesia joined the discussion and shared about the master's course for nursing leadership and management specialization in the country.

"CPD System for Specific Fields of Nursing and Specialists" and "CPD System for Nursing Management / Administration" were kind of advanced topics compared to the topic of the 2nd workshop: CPD System for General Nursing. However, we need to find better ways to improve the quality and quantity of nurses and other health workforce, especially in the areas that we covered in this workshop, as the health issues that we are facing are becoming more complex, and medical technologies that nurses need to catch up with are being advanced. Therefore, it was very meaningful for us to hold workshops on these two topics. We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone involved in this workshop!

This workshop was hosted by:

• Asia Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resources for Health (AAAH),
• Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA),
• Ministry of Public Health, Thailand,
• National Health Security Office (NHSO), Thailand,
• Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Council (TNMC), and
• GLO+UHC Phase 2