UNMC Launches Research Seed Grants to Support Nurses and Midwives in Generation of Evidence

In 2021, the Council made its first call for the first cycle of its research funding program. The call was anchored on the premise that research was a viable avenue in generating evidence to support standard and regulation development and review, as well as derive recommendations to government on nursing and midwifery in Uganda.

Nurses and Midwives in Uganda have limited if no opportunity to enhance their writing and research skills which limits their ability to participate in competitive research grants. This comes as a handy opportunity to allow nurses and midwives to compete at a national level for grants.

We are happy to inform you that following our first call for applications, amidst so many applicants with strong ideas, Ms. Elizabeth Ayebare of Makerere University and Ms. Faith Nawagi of ACHEST merged the best Midwife and Nurse for the awards. Elizabeth’s proposal focuses on “Intra-uterine resuscitation techniques, the midwives role and newborn outcomes of women with fetal distress at Kawempe national referral hospital” while Faith’s research idea focuses on “Establishing the gap in elderly health care competencies in nursing education in Uganda.”

It is our belief that Elizabeth’s research study will contribute to intrapartum care in Uganda and will clearly propose the scope of midwifery practice in this area. With the expected increase in older persons in Uganda, improvement of nurses’ competencies on how to care for the elderly is timely.

The Council will announce its second cycle of research grants this year and would like to encourage nurses and midwives to apply. We can use these funds to improve our capacity as well as derive solutions to problems that have affected the nursing and midwifery profession in Uganda for a long time.