Nurses and midwives are celebrating the International Nurses Day under the theme “Our nurses, our future”.
Globally, there are great milestones to be commended, albeit with some challenges. But going by the recent reorganisation in the Ministry of Health (MoH) directorates, the Kenyan nurse and midwife has nothing to celebrate.
Without a Directorate of Nursing Services in the MoH organogram, the future of nursing and midwifery in the country is blurred, and uncertain. The profession faces a precarious future.
Health Act, 2017 gains such as the universal health coverage (UHC) and primary healthcare (PHC) programmes by the government cannot happen without nurses. As the adage goes, nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system. But in our set-up, this is only so as far as donkey work is concerned, not at the policy table. The MoH reorganisation technically relegated and bound them to the bedside.
The healthcare system globally operates on a multidisciplinary team approach, not exclusion, not to compete with each other but complement one another. But here, one homogenous cadre, since they have the upper hand, decided to run the show with the exclusion of the rest. The MoH restructuring should not, therefore, be allowed to see the light of day.
Nursing and midwifery is a fully fledged profession with an autonomous regulator. It is neither an auxiliary nor a subservient of some ‘superior’ profession. And there are enough qualified nurses and midwives in the country to fill those positions. There can be no policy discussions about nurses or midwives and their contribution to healthcare system without them at the policy table with the rest of the players.
The Health Cabinet secretary, cognizant of the peculiar and distinct role of nurses and midwives in the healthcare system, should review the ill-advised and discriminatory organogram.
Happy International Nurses Day 2023!
– Mr Bii is a psychiatric and mental health nursing postgraduate student. [email protected]
