From the field to headquarters: What is learned from nursing insight on quality of care in humanitarian settings?

Quality of care in humanitarian healthcare is a challenge requiring a partnership between the project and the operational center, necessitating a way to bridge the divide between “on the ground” knowledge and the understandings in headquarters (HQ). Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) data collection from internationally recruited nurses (IRN) leaving humanitarian healthcare projects is meant to addresses this challenge. The objectives of this study are to appraise if MSF’s “End of Mission” (EoM) survey is an effective means of harvesting knowledge about the quality of care in projects and analyze the disjuncture or congruence between MSF field and HQ perceptions. This study uses a mixed methods approach combining survey analysis and interviews with key informants, including nurses and MSF HQ coordinators. Findings indicate that the EoM survey data is effective at transferring some knowledge but lacks the breadth of nurses’ experience-based knowledge that can be found in stories which create context.