•Ajwang said what is lacking among nurses association is unity, restoring which would be part of his short term goals.
•Kenya has approximately 50,000 registered nurses.
The National Nurses Association of Kenya (NNAK) wants the nursing policy and the scheme of service to be reviewed for the benefit of nurses.
On Friday, the nurses across the country elected their new chairperson, Collins Otieno Ajwang, who took over from Alfred Obengo who held the position the last four years.
Speaking in Mombasa during the annual general meeting, the newly-elected chairperson said his office will work with the Ministry of Health to ensure that the policy is reviewed.
“What has been stagnating in the nursing profession is the nursing policy document, the scheme of service and the scope, these are the major documents that needs to be reviewed because nurses really want them for their own benefit," he said.
He said the documents have delayed for a while and therefore there is need to fast track the process.
“The scheme will help in ensuring the nurses are graded appropriately on entry level and promoted as per the scheme and are also properly remunerated,” he said.
Ajwang said that the policy was last reviewed in 2014 and therefore it is a high time for it to be reviewed again.
“The process has been tedious to the disadvantage of nurses, and that is why we are going to work with the ministry of health to ensure that it is done,” he said.
Ajwang said nurses lacked unity, restoring which would be part of his short term goals.
“One thing that has also been lacking in the nursing profession is unity, I will use the powers that I have been given to unite the nurses and bring all the stakeholders on one table to ensure that we speak one voice,” he said.
Kenya has approximately 50,000 registered nurses.
In the elections that took place at Bandari College in Mombasa, Pauline Ngala maintained her position as the first vice chair, Dennis Ngau Mbithi was elected as the second vice chair, Stephen Njoroge as the NNAK secretary, and Marceline Ndegwa as the treasurer.