Perioperative practice
Workforce issues Every country we have been to has had a workforce problem. In Zambia, we were interviewed by a local radio station who took great delight in accusing us of recruiting their nurses. We are able in no uncertain terms to refute this and to say unequivocally that we were training them to stay at home. Data from a meeting held in Pretoria
in November 2025, convened by the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, identifies that Africa faces a shortfall of more than six million healthcare workers by 2030. The region has tripled it’s workforce from 1.6 million in 2013 to 5.1 million in 2022, but it continues to struggle with severe mismatches between training outputs and labour market needs. Outdated and theory-heavy education models, chronic underinvestment in training institutions, as well as significant migration and attrition hold many countries back. The ministers, development partners and universities at the meeting determined that shared priorities are on strengthening governance and stewardship, modernising healthcare workforce education, improving employment and retention, as well as scaling up investments in the workforce. It is to be hoped that this meeting signifies a turning point for the healthcare workforce, which will be formally adopted and launched in 2026.
What have I learnt? Reviewing the different elements that I have learnt from the experience is extremely difficult over so many years. However, I can say overall I have gained enormously from the charity and the many rewards it has offered. The teaching itself is greatly rewarding, seeing the many students over the years, especially face to face nurses who have so few opportunities away from a stressful workplace, enjoying the learning experience. I have benefitted from personally having to adapt my own knowledge and skills in the many different perioperative landscapes where we have taught. I have had to learn more than my natural level of patience in arranging visits via the Ministries or National Nursing Organisations in all our countries. Although it should be noted that email is a far easier communication method, than a letter by post, which is where we began! PowerPoint is a huge bonus, as we can update it without too much difficulty. There are shortcomings in the one-week
programmes in that there is little time for more flexible approaches and often we would like to spend more time in the clinical
area with a number of students to undertake some demonstrations and audit the practical aspects of practice. It is also an issue in terms of follow-up to ensure the lessons have been clearly understood and that they have had an impact for patients in the clinical area. Running the charity has also been a learning curve in many ways. As Chair, the need to fundraise is constant and also the requirement to undertake regular marketing has been challenging, although there are helpers. Social media has never been my bag, but I recognise how vital it is to organisations like ours. I am fortunate to have a trustee who enjoys the interactions with socials. I am always astonished and grateful to trustees who step up to the plate and devise training modules, find articles and give of their time and energy to the cause.
Conclusion I have always been intensely grateful for the quality education both under and post- graduate that I received, and my specialist area of practice was a constant learning process over many years. I was lucky to live and work in a high-income country where education is available from professional associations, such as The Association for Perioperative Practice and others. The charity aims to enable access to a quality learning experience to African Nurses either face to face or online. It is hoped that they benefit from the opportunity.
References 1. Malcolm Knowles’ Five Principles of Andragogy Undated
https://elearningindustry.com/the- adult-learning-theory-andragogy-of-malcolm- knowles.
CSJ
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