These are our demands as we mark nurses international day

Nurses have called on the government to address challenges affecting the profession leading to hinderance of service delivery.

Nursing Council of Kenya CEO Edna Tallam on Thursday said despite nurses working selflessly round the clock to provide healthcare services to Kenyans, they face a myriad of challenges which require urgent resolution. 

Tallam spoke on Thursday when she graced the International Nurses and Midwives Day celebrations at The Nairobi Hospital.

"First, you find when you get to the hospital we have a large number of patients, few beds, sometimes there are no drugs, sometimes there are no equipment,” Tallam said.

"If you work in the maternity, sometimes you find there is a mother in critical need of blood yet it is not there. Sometimes you find it is only the nurse and the midwife in the dispensary,” she added.

The Council CEO said in some cases, it becomes hard to attend to critically ill patients in need of intensive care as some of the hospitals lack facilities for such patients.

Tallam further noted that nurses are not paid well, a situation that has been worsened by perennial challenge of delayed salaries for healthcare workers by county governments.

This has not only left nurses struggling to make ends meet but has led to demotivation as they are unable to cater for their needs.

“Most times they don’t have security and safety; when they want to go and conduct an immunisation drives, they pass through impassable roads and flooded rivers,” she explained.

Tallam now wants both county and the national government to look into the issues and ensure nurses are promoted, those who have been trained are employed and drugs and equipment are availed in hospitals to ensure nurses deliver healthcare services with ease.

According to the CEO, Kenya is yet to meet the nurse-to-patient ratio as recommended by the World Health Organisation.

The WHO recommends 23 nurses per population of 10,000 people yet the country currently has 13 nurses per population of 10,000 people hence the need to have more investment in nurses training and career progressions.

It is estimated that Kenya has 60,000 practicing nurses with approximately 9,500 unemployed.

The International Nurses Day offers an opportunity to appreciate the commitment and achievement of the entire nursing fraternity and is marked on May 12 each year.

The aim is to acknowledge the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birthday who was born in 1820. This year’s theme is "Our nurses, our future."

According to Nairobi Hospital CEO James Nyamongo, nurses have the ability to influence the quality of healthcare of the country and significantly impact on global health and universal health coverage.

WHO predicts that for all countries to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals, an additional nine million nurses and midwives will be needed by 2030.

"For the past two years, the nursing profession has sacrificed their personal demands and have led their communities through the challenges and uncertainties of the multiple waves of Covid-19 and natural disasters," he said.

Director nursing at the Ministry of Health, Judith Awinja, challenged nurses to ensure they deliver quality services to Kenyans, noting that death rates in the country have reduced due to the services nurses offer.