Developing a specialist children's nursing workforce in sub-Saharan Africa: a descriptive programme evaluation.

The programme has made a quantifiable, positive and sustained contribution to the capacity of the specialist clinical and educational children's nursing workforce in nine African countries. Data suggest there may be promising approaches within programme design and delivery in relation to very high course completion rates and the retention of graduates in service which merit further consideration. Outputs from this single programme are however modest when compared to the scale of need. Greater clarity around the vision and role of specialist children's nurses and costed plans for workforce development are needed for investment in specialist children's nursing education to realise its potential in relation to achievement of Universal Health Coverage.