Sustainability of Training for Primary Health Care Nurses Institutionalised
The Kosovo Chamber of Nurses (OIK) and 28 Main Family Medicine Centres (MFMCs) signed Memoranda of Understanding to integrate two accredited training programmes into the regular Continuing Professional Education system for nurses. The agreements ensure that the training programmes developed with the support of the Accessible Quality Healthcare (AQH) Project will continue to be delivered through local structures and capacities.
The signing ceremony was held in Pristina on 24 September 2026 and facilitated by the AQH Project. It brought together the Deputy Minister of Health, representatives of the Kosovo Chamber of Nurses, directors of Municipal Directorates of Health and Social Welfare and MFMCs, as well as representatives of the National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo, the Faculty of Medicine – Department of Nursing, the Kosovo Doctors’ Chamber and the AQH Project.
The Memoranda formalise cooperation on integrating the training programmes on Motivational Interviewing-Counseling and Elderly Care into the regular Continuing Professional Education programme for nurses working in Primary Health Care. They also establish the basis for planning, coordinating and delivering these programmes in 2027 and beyond.
From Project Intervention to Institutional Ownership
Development projects can bring about lasting change only when their results are integrated into existing structures and continue beyond the period of direct support. This is precisely what the agreements between OIK and the MFMCs aim to achieve.
Through these agreements, responsibility for ensuring the continuity of the training programmes is transferred to local institutions and professionals. OIK will support their integration into the Continuing Professional Education system, including the certification, accreditation and monitoring of the relevant training programmes. Meanwhile, the MFMCs will undertake the ongoing planning and organisation of training for nurses, drawing on the capacities developed and the pool of qualified trainers.
This mechanism ensures that the knowledge and skills developed with AQH support are not limited to the duration of the Project but become an integral part of nurses’ continuing professional education.
A Long-Term Investment in Quality of Care
The training programmes support nurses in providing care that is more responsive to patients’ needs, particularly in the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases and in the care of elderly. They complement other AQH interventions supporting the implementation of the
Essential Package for the management of noncommunicable diseases and the strengthening of Primary Health Care.
The signing of the Memoranda represents more than an agreement on cooperation. It marks the transition from project support to an institutionalised model in which local institutions assume responsibility for sustaining, developing and expanding the results achieved.
Through this cooperation, OIK and the MFMCs are laying the foundations for the regular delivery of accredited training programmes, thereby contributing to stronger nursing capacities and the long-term improvement of healthcare services for the people of Kosovo.