Summary

The Division of Nursing and Midwifery Services under the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC), has the role to oversee provision of quality Nursing and Midwifery services in the country. One of its responsibilities is to develop guidelines for improving quality of Nursing and Midwifery services.

In Tanzania Nurses and Midwives constitute about 60% of all the health care work force. In this regard, the effect of Nursing and Midwifery cadre whether positive or negative can easily be felt so significantly. The increasing of public expectations from health care providers in recent, years has called for Nurses and Midwives to rethink about their delivery practices in efforts to accommodate such new demands. The effort to revise delivery practices is coupled by the rapidly changing socio-cultural and technical environment. One key aspect of the quality of services delivery is that when patients seek health care services, they expect to be treated with respect and compassion. However, there have been challenges facing the Nursing and Midwifery profession reported by the public such as misconduct and poor relationship between Nurses/ Midwives and clients, leading to increased public dissatisfaction with services provided which underpins negative public image of Nurses and Midwives. These challenges have been associated with lack of generic guidelines for Nurses and Midwives at all levels of health care delivery in the provision of respectful and compassionate care. To address these challenges, the Division of Nursing and Midwifery Services has developed the National Guidelines for Respectful and Compassionate Nursing and Midwifery Care which will guide Nurses and Midwives to provide appropriate care to clients that meet their expecta . . .