Canton 10 is the ninth canton in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to systematically improve community nursing, thus continuing the process of strengthening primary health care and improving the nurses’ role in work with the population.

Additional education in community nursing for nurses from five primary health care centers in Canton 10 – Tomislavgrad, Livno, Kupres, Glamoc and Drvar, has started at Tomislavgrad Primary Health Care Center’s training center. This training represents an important step in harmonizing standards and quality of community nursing in the Federation of BiH.

Over the next few days, participants will have an intensive additional training course that includes theoretical part on the basis of community nursing, role and responsibilities of nurses and in this segment of health care, as well as coordination and cooperation with other support services in the local communities. Special focus is placed on the importance of inter-professional and interinstitutional cooperation and the improvement of communication and coordination between the health sector and other relevant institutions and services in the community. The training program also includes a number of other topics important for quality planning and provision of community nursing.

Theoretical part is followed by practical work, which includes mentoring home visits in the participants’ local communities. Practical work is implemented with the support of qualified mentors – providers of additional training. Its goal is to enable the application of acquired knowledge in real working setting in direct contact with health services beneficiaries.

This activity represents another important step towards strengthening the capacities of nurses as well as improving the accessibility, quality and comprehensiveness of community nursing service. At the same time, it contributes to the development of a healthcare system focused on the needs of the individuals, families and local community with a stronger role of nursing care at the primary health care level.