The role of private nurse training institutions

Overview

This research aimed to better understand the role of private nurse training institutions in Kenya and Thailand.

In all of these countries there has been a rapid proliferation of private training institutions to increase the supply of nurses. Private institutions have notable differences with conventional public training institutions including in their ownership and governance, organisational goals and culture, and sources of finance. These differences also determine nursing graduates’ employment choices and their likelihood of working in public or private facilities.

Infographic: can the private sector help overcome nursing shortages?

Key findings

A rapid expansion of private training institutions has the potential to contribute positively to local and national health systems by increasing the supply of nurses; however, research has found that privately trained nurses are more likely to work in the private health sector and in urban areas than publicly trained nurses, hence they are unlikely to reduce shortages in rural/underserved areas.

Public sector institutions are best placed to respond to a country’s health workforce requirements in terms of: aligning student intake and training programmes with changing population needs, maintaining healthcare standards, setting up training schools in rural areas and collaborating with the public healthcare system to place trainees/graduates in underserved facilities.

In Kenya and India, a large proportion of (public and private) nursing graduates are unable to find relevant employment due insufficient government funding for health workers. This disjuncture between production and employment is one explanation for the high levels of nurse migration in these countries (20% in Kenya, and 25% of privately trained graduates in India).

Publications

• Journal publication: The role of the private sector in the production of nurses in India, Kenya, South Africa and Thailand: a review of the literature
• Blog post: Tackling the human resources for health crisis: a view from RESYST
• Infographic: Can the private sector help overcome nursing shortages
• Policy Brief: The role of private sector training institutions in addressing nurse shortages in Kenya
• Policy Brief: Public and private nursing schools in Thailand: How does type of training institution affect nurses' attitudes and job choices?
• RESYST Working paper 8: Uptake of public sector sessional contracts by private general practitioners in South Africa
• Thailand summary
• Kenya and Uganda summary