Kenya · 13 August 2014 · 2 min
Located a 90-minute drive from the bustling port city of Mombasa, Kwale and Kaloleni are among the poorest districts in Kenya. Working in isolated dispensaries, nurses often treat over 100 patients in a day with severely limited medical supplies and an inadequate arsenal of knowledge and skills. Unfortunately, their remoteness and limited incomes make it nearly impossible for them to further their education.
With support from the Lundin Foundation, the School of Nursing and Midwifery, East Africa has answered the need for continuing nursing education in Kwale and Kaloleni with short courses in critical subjects and a two-year programme that enables Enrolled Nurses to become Registered Nurses. The result is better healthcare for numerous poor families, as graduates put their new skills to work in areas where nurses are often the sole health providers. As one nursing student in Kaloleni recently put it, in such communities “you are the nurse, the clinical officer, the doctor – without knowledge, you are nothing.”
First in Kwale and then in Kaloleni, The Aga Khan University (AKU) has offered three short courses a year on reproductive health, leadership and management, and health education/promotion in coordination with the Kwale and Mariakani District Health Management Teams and the Community Health Department of Aga Khan Health Service, Kenya. So far, 180 Registered and Enrolled Nurses from hospitals and health centres have been able to improve their nursing practice while continuing to be employed.
In Kaloleni, AKU has partnered with St Luke’s Mission Hospital’s School of Nursing and the Government of Kenya to launch a two-year programme for nurses to upgrade their qualifications from Enrolled Nurse to Registered Nurse. Students attend classes in Kaloleni taught by AKU faculty, then continue to practice at their hospital, health centre or dispensary, applying what they have learnt and receiving periodic visits from their instructors, who review their performance and recommend strategies for improvement. Thirty nurses have already graduated, and another 38 are enrolled.
“I feel good working in my community,” said AKU Kaloleni instructor Esther Nderitu, who received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from AKU, worked at Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi for 15 years and moved to Kaloleni after receiving her master’s in nursing at the University of Alberta.
“You can see the need, and I know I’m making a difference,” she added.