A human resources for health information system (HRIS) tracks the number, occupation, and geographical distribution of a health workforce across a country, region, or state. The HRIS can be used to update a health workforce registry and aid the government’s planning and decision-making. Bauchi State in northeastern Nigeria had not updated its State Health Workforce Registry (SHWR) since 2019. Between 2021 and 2023, the USAID/Nigeria Health Workforce Management (HWM) Activity supported the Bauchi State Government to update its SHWR.

This technical brief describes the support provided by the HWM Activity to the Bauchi State Government to (1) adopt the National Human Resources for Health (HRH) Data Management Standard Operating Procedures (SOP); (2) adopt an electronic tool for HRH data collection; (3) increase the pool and build the capacity of HRH Managers; and (4) use a State-specific protocol to update the SHWR. These interventions led to the use of the National HRH Data Management SOP by the Bauchi State Government to guide SHWR operations and strengthen its data collection and management processes. The government has since updated its SHWR, which highlighted current health worker gaps and informed the ongoing recruitment of more than 590 health care workers in the State.