Healthcare Providers and Nurse

¶ … Kenyan Healthcare Assessment

Across the globe, manmade and natural calamities are on the rise, occurring almost every single day and having destructive effects on individual people, households and entire communities. People's lifestyles and quality of life are undermined by both minor and major catastrophes. The African continent has long struggled with internal conflicts that have had destructive impacts, threatening its inhabitants' survival. Extensive casualties have resulted from these occurrences. It is an undisputed fact that war and conflict interferes with communities' social, religious, economic and educational dimensions. This section attempts to understand disaster-related emergency preparedness and healthcare scenario in the Republic of Kenya.

Just like a majority of other African nations, Kenya has encountered manmade and natural catastrophes that have led to huge losses of life. One good example would be the 2007-08 post-election clashes. The nation witnessed largely politically-initiated inter-community fights that had immense, large-scale consequences. Hence, its healthcare department was hard-pressed to manage victims and save maximum possible lives. Even large hospitals did not have sufficient healthcare staff, medicine and equipment to cater to the hundreds of patients flooding them. The hospitals also lacked sufficient vehicles and ambulances to transport injured citizens from war-ravaged places.

Moreover, a key point to note is that Kenya experiences a skewed healthcare worker distribution which has, unfortunately, led to citizens being denied equal opportunities to receive superior quality healthcare. National statistics reveal that one healthcare provider in Mandera serves a total of 2,456 people whereas the ratios for Kisii and Turkana are 1:1930 and 1:2148 respectively (Wafula, 2014). The Kenyan government's 2014 SARAM (Service Availability and Readiness Assessment Mapping) reveals that the nation has one nurse per 3,300 individuals and one registered clinician per 10,000 individuals in the nation (Wafula, 2014). The above figures clearly complicate professional practice and service delivery in the nation. In sum, emergency preparedness and healthcare provision is nearly impossible with the aforementioned figures.

In spite of the dearth of Kenyan healthcare providers and existing workers' increased pressure linked to managing such a huge population, providers are well aware of the concept of self-respect as well as its preservation on the job. They retain a good appearance and command patients' respect. As mandated by their practice regulations, healthcare providers must observe self-protection and caution in their care of patients. Further, maintaining patient confidentiality is of utmost importance and the nation's healthcare workers have never been known to disclose patient information to third-party entities. Additionally, Kenyan healthcare providers generally know their boundaries and effectively evade risky encounters with their patients, patient families and caregivers. Sexual relationships between providers and patients have been witnessed, but rarely. Therefore, it may be stated that, in general, healthcare professionals in Kenya maintain a good appearance, self-respect, and regard for others, and do not breach professional boundaries with individual patients, families and caregivers.

Safe Care Environment