Nursing Process training comes to a close

By Philip Etyang

The Nursing Division through the Nursing Standards, Students and Research Department conducted a closure of two weeks intense training on mainstreaming the nursing process among Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) nursing staff at the CT Scan Seminar Room.

The second cohort training took place between the 17th and 28th of October, 2022. The participants were drawn from the Specialized Pediatrics, General Pediatrics, Accident and Emergency, Room 108, Specialized Surgery and Mama Margaret Uhuru Children Hospital KNH-Annex. The first cohort was trained between the 3/10/2022 and 14/10/2022 at KNH.

The two-part training programe was organized, and facilitated by KNH staff, led by Ruth Nyansikera, Principal Nursing Officer and the acting Deputy Chief Nurse (Nursing Standards, Student and Research). Her team of coordinators comprised of senior nursing officers namely; Elizabeth Mugi, Jemimah Wanjiru, Pauline Wephukhulu (senior nursing officers), and Esther Sang, Sally Keino, Elizabeth Mutemi (Assistant Chief Nurses).

In her speech, Ruth Nyansikera who was standing in for the Senior Director Clinical Services, Dr. Irene Inwani, the Chief guest at the event, thanked the KNH management for facilitating the training which she said had already started bearing fruit.

“I appreciate the management for considering our department for the training. We are going to do our best to optimize patient experience and increase the customer satisfaction rate,” she said.

MAIN PHOTO | STEVE ARWA Coordinators of the intense training on mainstreaming the nursing process among Kenyatta National Hospital pose for a group photo after the closing ceremony

The 2020/2021 financial year, Performance Evaluation contracting placed the hospital at 49th out of 354 MDAs (21 Ministries), Office of the Deputy President, and Office of the Attorney General, and Department of Justice, 232 State Corporations, and 98 Tertiary Institutions.

Ms Nyansikera explained to the trainees, systematically, how the mainstreaming nursing process training progress from the first phase to phase four.

“You have gone through the training for two weeks. Its Phase one is complete. We shall go to mentorship and supervision in the next step. Your performance, both in the internal assessment and external assessment will determine if you will proceed to phase four of the training exercise. As management, we are committed to hold your hand,” she said.

She identified the shortage of nursing staff as being their biggest challenge at KNH that the training addressed.

“One of the main challenges is staff shortage. Whereas management is addressing it, it’s unlikely we shall meet the required numbers. We must therefore do things differently. The training has taught us patient categorization and the care plan tool which will both help us achieve our goals,” she added.

Assistant Chief Nurse at Accident and Emergency, Lucy Ndereba, acknowledged that the results from the first training was already eliciting positive results.

Principal Nursing Officer and the acting Deputy Chief Nurse, Ruth Nyansikera addressing cohort two participants of the intense training on mainstreaming the nurse process among Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) nursing staff at the CT Scan Seminar Room

PHOTO | STEVE ARWA

“Despite the few challenges in the nursing sector, we believe things will turn out positive. I congratulate all of you. Right now, I can report that the ground is bubbling with activities related to the nursing process,” Lucy said.

Isinta Vane, a nursing officer at KNH, gave a summary presentation of the two-week training process while using the case study of “Mr Brown” (not real name) who had been referred from Nanyuki, with a bullet lodged in his head. Ms Vane patiently went through her presentation while pinpointing the main highlights of the mainstreaming nursing process.

Mr Otero Matunda, a nursing representative from Mama Margaret Uhuru Children Hospital KNH-Annex, asked the organizers of the training to consider increasing the number of trainees from the KNH annex hospital to help improve capacity building at the health facility.

On her part, Dr Christine Musee, the Deputy Chief Nurse, Surgery Division, highlighted the importance of mainstreaming the nursing process in ensuring successful clinical outcomes.

“The clinical outcome of patients will always change when the nursing sector is working well. Let us go out there and do our best to help our patients,” she said adding that the nursing process was what made it a profession. “Without the nursing process, we are in volunteer work or and we must therefore, guard the nursing process jealously,” she said.