Health care system changes supporting the development of the nurse practitioner role in Tanzania

Background and purpose: Accessibility to health care services remains a global challenge, and this has affected the quality of services delivered. This has affected the quality of health care services. Poor accessibility to health care services in Tanzania has hindered the achievements of health care system goals. The development of the nurse practitioner (NP) role has not yet received enough attention to resolve current existing and emerging problems facing the Tanzanian health care system. This study assessed the health care system changes that support the development of the NP role in Tanzania. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used to collect quantitative data. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to collect data from 237 health care providers using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data were entered into SPSS version 20 and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test for independence (Pearson Chi-square, chi(2)). Conclusions: Although the government of Tanzania has made some improvements in access to health care services, the rural health care facilities still suffer from an extreme shortage of skilled health care providers. This has forced the government to allow medical attendants to treat patients when they are not licensed to do so. The development of the NP role should be able to address the shortage of skilled health care providers in rural health care facilities. Implications for practice: The development of the NP role will improve the accessibility to health care services in rural primary health care facilities.