Programmes and Activity

An overview of work we are doing to elevate and strengthen the influence and impact of nurses and nurse communities around the world.

The Edinburgh Global Nursing Initiative leads and supports a range of initiatives. Our core areas of activity include:

  1. Education to advance clinical practice, scholarship, workforce and leadership
  2. Research to demonstrate how nurses contribute and to inform clinical practice and policy
  3. Consultancy and collaborations to advance global solutions
  4. Catalyse and promote evidence-informed policy change to enact change at all levels
  5. Public engagement to strengthen the reputation and profile of nursing around the world.

Making a difference

Below we highlight some examples of the way we are elevating and strengthening the influence and impact of nurses and midwives at the interface of Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals. 

44,000 learners from 197 countries have already taken this short online course to learn the principles and practice of critical care for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This free education resource teaches the daily practice for critical care patients with or without COVID-19, and how to apply ventilation and organ support principles to a critically ill COVID-19 patient. Our module on how to facilitate emotional and physical wellbeing in this high-stress, high-risk environment has been highly valued by learners. 

This course has been designed for frontline clinical staff, including a wide range of healthcare professionals in acute care, from many different clinical speciality backgrounds. The information in the course will support those refreshing critical care knowledge and skills, newly qualified practitioners, those who are upskilling, and those returning to acute clinical services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learners can view the materials most relevant to their work from any section of the course: there is no need to follow the week-by-week structure of the resource. 


This cutting-edge new programme will equip registered nurses working in neurological rehabilitation with the resources and skills to develop person-centred, partnership focussed, practice in the area of neurological care and rehabilitation of adults.


Find out more on the programme webpages

Naomi Lewis, performing a Cesarean Section in Liberia.
Midwife and qualified obstetric clinician Naomi Lewis, performing a Cesarean Section in Liberia. This photo was taken when she was a trainee.
TitleInnovative advanced clinical practice approaches through task-sharing: Midwives and nurses improving hospital-based maternal and neonatal care in Liberia
AreaLiberia, West Africa
PurposeTo develop a cadre of advanced practice midwives and neonatal nurses qualified to provide safe and independently performing advanced obstetric care, including abdominal surgery, and advanced neonatal care, respectively
ObjectiveTo explore innovative advanced clinical practice approaches through task-sharing: Midwives and nurses improving hospital-based maternal and neonatal care in Liberia
Partners
  • Liberian Ministry of Health
  • World Health Organisation (WHO
  • United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
  • Maternal & Childhealth Advocacy International (MACI)
  • University of Edinburgh
  • The Burdett Trust
Read more(Material in development)

Patient in hospital with nurse"
TitleNurse led emergency care for women who have experienced complex sexual trauma in war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
AreaSouth Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
PurposeTo improve women's physical and psychological outcomes following surgical interventions and care for war related rape and mutilation
ObjectiveTo enhance nurses' clinical competence and confidence in the delivery of holistic physical and psychological care in the Emergency Room (ER) for women who have experienced war related rape and mutilation
Partners
  • General Referral Hospital of Bukavu
  • General Referral Hospital of Panzi, the Hospital of Pentecostal Churches in Central Africa
  • University of Edinburgh
  • The Burdett Trust
Read moreLaunching end of 2020

Empty bed
TitlePalliative Care Nurse Leaders
AreaUganda
PurposeTo develop nurse leaders within palliative care in Uganda who will support the national roll out of palliative care services ensuring all people have access to quality palliative care.
ObjectiveTo roll out a nurse leadership development programme which will deliver clinical and organisational modelling of nurse leadership by specialist nurses; expand the highly link-nurse programme developed at Mulago Hospital to other hospitals in Uganda,  and lay the foundations for both professional recognition and career progression.
Partners
  • Makerere University
  • Mulago Hospital Palliative Care Unit
  • University of Edinburgh
  • The Burdett Trust
Read more
The Nurse Leadership Project (739.75 KB PDF)

Comas Kapuyanyika, awarded Best Nurse, Paediatric Ward 2020
Comas Kapuyanyika, awarded ‘Best Nurse, Paediatric Ward 2020’, by nursing colleagues during a dissemination workshop for the Compassionate Care Research Project held in Malawi, March 2020.
TitleEmbedding Compassionate Care in Nursing and Midwifery Practice at Kamuzu Central and Bwaila Hospitals, Malawi: A Case Study Approach
AreaMalawi
PurposePromoting compassionate health care to support ethical practice, professionalism and person-centred care.
Objective
  • To identify problems and challenges to delivering compassionate health care, strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders and develop strategies with and for frontline nurses and midwives to overcome them.
  • To disseminate and discuss findings from the research with practitioners and managers.
Partners
  • Kamuzu College of Nursing
  • Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
  • University of Malawi
  • University of Edinburgh
Publications

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Malawi online learning
TitleDeveloping and Embedding Online Learning in Undergraduate and PostGraduate Nursing programmes in ‘The Warm Heart of Africa’
AreaMalawi
PurposeProgramme innovation through partnership and exchange of knowledge, skills and experience to develop bespoke online platforms and resources to enhance learning and teaching, and nursing practice overall.
ObjectiveThe development and delivery of innovative nursing and midwifery curricula and online teaching methods and resources to enhance students’ learning experiences.
Partners
  • Kamuzu College of Nursing
  • University of Malawi
  • University of Edinburgh
Read more

Presentation – Delivered at the ICCHNR Community Health Nursing Research conference: ‘Health Promotion across the lifespan’ Seoul National University, South Korea 2015: Transforming The Education And Training Of Clinical Professionals: Delivering Maternal And Child Healthcare In Malawi (Dr Melanie Hami and Dr Gladys Msiska, Kamuzu College of Nursing). Download presentation slides below:

Newborn baby and stethoscope
Title

NIHR global health research group on preterm birth and stillbirth at the University of Edinburgh – the DIPLOMATIC* collaboration

*Using eviDence, Implementation science, and a clinical trial PLatform to Optimise MATernal and newborn health in lICs (Low Income Countries)

AreaMalawi and Zambia
PurposeTo reduce mortality of children under 5 years (one of the targets of sustainable development goals) by reducing preterm birth and stillbirth and to optimise outcomes for babies born preterm.
ObjectiveTo examine strategies to develop and implement contextualised, evidence based local practices building on successes and challenges of current best practice in the UK and other high income countries.
Partners
  • National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
  • Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unity (MEIRU)
  • UK Aid
  • University of Edinburgh
  • University of Malawi
  • Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Clinical Research Programme
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
  • University of Glasgow
  • Edinburgh Napier University
  • University of Liverpool
  • Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
  • NHS Lothian
  • NHS Borders
Read moreFurther information about the DIMPLOMATIC programme

Women walking with bowls on their heads
TitleTackling the Burden of Cervical Cancer
AreaMalawi
PurposeTo find the best approach to roll out cervical screening to reduce the burden of cervical cancer in Malawi.
Objective
  • To support optimal HPV testing which involves minimal training, are rapid, are near patient and responsive to women’s needs test.
  • To roll out the testing to at least 60,000 women.
Partners
  • Nkhoma CCAP Hospital Malawi
  • Malawi Ministry of Health
  • University of Edinburgh
Read moreSustainable Programme of Cervical Cancer Screening

More information