KHHRAC’s Role in Strengthening Nursing for Quality Neonatal Care

Nurses play a crucial role in the delivery of health services and achieving international commitments such as UHC and SDGs on quality of care. They also represent a huge number within human resources for health and are central in the maintenance of a population’s well-being, particularly in the treatment of newborns. In most Low- and Middle- Income Countries including Kenya, the number of sick newborns is often higher compared to the number of nurses which makes it difficult to provide quality care because of the constraints the nurses undergo.

Among the constraints that nurses face in providing quality care especially in neonatal units include constant stress because of the high workloads and demands, low nurse staffing in the units, mental health issues among others. A study conducted by KEMRI-Wellcome Trust researchers found that sick newborns in Kenyan public hospitals receive only a fraction of the care they need which highlights the critical gaps in staffing.

Some of the ways through which these staffing gaps can be addressed is through developing standards for health facility staffing by considering workload and task-timing, health workforce redistributive models, increasing nurse staffing and promoting mental health wellness. KHHRAC will generate evidence needed to establish accurate HRH staffing norms and standards through its WISN assessments.

Literature shows that health workforce redistributive models such as task shifting and task sharing can reduce nursing workloads because it allows the nurses to redistribute other tasks especially non clinical tasks like administrative duties to other cadres like ward assistants. This allows them more time to provide clinical care. Increasing nurse staffing especially in neonatal units also enhances quality of care since there is close monitoring of cases and individualised attention to the newborns. It also reduces the workload of the staff leading to reduced burnout and exhaustion.

Lastly, promoting the mental being of nurses is also a critical to provision of quality care. One of the ways through which KHHRAC plans to address mental health well-being of not only nurses but also other health workers is through promoting programs that enhance the mental well-being of the health workers. Through its Strategic Plan, KHHRAC has purposed to work together with other stakeholders including the Mental Health Division at the Ministry of Health to ensure that the mental well-being of health workers is prioritised so that they are able to deliver quality care.