Thousands of nurses drawn from all 47 counties in Kenya converged in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County to celebrate International Nurses’ Week.
In their speeches, the nurses highlighted systematic issues affecting them in delivering health care.
Collins Ajwang’, the President of the National Nurses Association of Kenya NNAK, said there is an acute shortage of nurses in Kenya.
Ajwang’ called on all the County governments to recruit more nurses to bridge the gap for better provision of nursing services.
“Currently, Kenya’s health nursing workforce is a paltry 10%. We need the government to raise to at least 50%, the current nurse-to-patient ratio is 83: 25,000 way below what the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends,” Ajwang’ said.
WHO recommends 83 nurses attending to 10,000 patients.
On his part, Michael Nyongesa the chairperson of Kenya Progressive Nurses Association KPNA, said it is unfair for county governments to increase the number of health facilities without a commensurate number of nurses.
“Health facilities have increased in this country after devolution while the nursing workforce is declining daily due to nurses exiting on various grounds. This should not be the case,” Nyongesa said.
Deborah Monari: Nurses are overworked
Nguvu Change Leader Deborah Monari said nurses especially in public hospitals are overworked due to routine short staff, overwhelming them and subjecting them to stress.
“Hospitals are by nature intense environments and working under such conditions without a break can be excruciating. We spend a large amount of time with patients and rarely have time to unwind. It takes a toll on our physical and mental health,” Monari said.
She advocated for teamwork and taking personal breaks to avoid burnout.
Monari further called on the government to give nurses full-funded scholarship programmes for postgraduate studies and short courses.
“This will enable nurses to increase their expertise, which will, in turn, improve the standard of service in healthcare systems across Kenya,” she stated.
Moreover, Edward Cheruyiot the Secretary General of the Kenya National Union of Nurses KNUN, Trans Nzoia branch revealed that there are around 230 nurses who are due for promotion.
“Our nurses have stagnated for way too long and it is high time the County Public Service Board also promotes them as soon as possible,” Cheruiyot said.
His sentiments were also echoed by KNUN chairperson Cyprian Nyakundi who called on Governor George Natembeya’s administration to address their insurance cover.
“It is sad that we offer health services that ourselves cannot access because we do not have a reliable insurance cover. We should be given priority because we are very critical in every health department in health facilities of whatever level,” Nyakundi said.
International Nurses’ Day is celebrated around the world every May 12, the anniversary of Florence Nightingale the founder of modern nursing.
