ICAP Nurse Capacity Initiative

The ICAP (International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs) Nurse Capacity Initiative (INCI) is an innovative, multi-country program designed to build models that:

• Empower nurses to provide the HIV-related care that they are positioned to deliver;
• Increase the numbers of nurses providing high-quality HIV-related services;
• Build and strengthen the public health nursing workforce through a focus on HIV service delivery;
• Advocate for broadened scopes of practice & updated nusing policies;
• Facilitate and improve HIV-related pre-service and in-service nurse training;
• Engage nurses and stakeholders in a Pan-African network to heighten visibility of these issues;
• Train nurse leaders.

In each participating country, the INCI is driven by locally identified needs in close collaboration with nursing schools and associations, governments, and other stakeholders. In addition, the INCI supports a multi-national Center of Excellence to promote the sharing of best practices and provide a vehicle for advancing nursing issues. This hub is based in South Africa, with other inaugural countries including Ethiopia and Swaziland. Expansion of the INCI to other countries is planned for next year.

The INCI is a collaboration of ICAP at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, the U.S. government’s Health Resources and Services Administration, South Africa’s University of Fort Hare School of Health Sciences, Columbia University School of Nursing, and the International Council of Nursing.

For addinitional information about INCI, please contact Jennifer Dohrn, DNP, Program Director, at jed19@columbia.edu.