In Kenya, nurses provide the bulk of direct patient care at all levels of health
services delivery. The Kenya Nursing Workforce Report is the first of its kind, providing a comprehensive overview of the status of nursing in Kenya. The report provides county level data on trends in Kenya’s nursing workforce to inform health systems strengthening, policy development, and future research, as well as the devolved management of health services at the county level.
This report provides data on the supply, regulation, deployment and distribution
of nurses in Kenya. Supply and regulation data include enrollment in nurse training, examination, registration with the council, private practice, licensure renewals and intent to migrate. Deployment and distribution data include the employment of nurses in Kenya’s public, parastatal and faith-based sectors. Nursing data on county of deployment, facility type and sector of employment is included, as well as data on nursing workforce attrition. This national nursing report will serve as a platform for a future integrated report on the health workforce in Kenya.
The development of this national nursing report was made possible by support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through CDC Kenya, who has supported the development of health workforce information systems in Kenya since 2002. These information systems, which were developed through a collaboration between the Emory University Kenya Health Workforce Project, Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) and Kenya Ministry of Health (MOH), include the Regulatory Human Resources Information System (rHRIS) in the NCK and the Kenya Health Workforce Information System (KHWIS) in the Nursing Unit, formerly the Department of Nursing, MOH. Data from the rHRIS and KHWIS informed the development of this report.
On behalf of the Kenya Ministry of Health, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of several individuals and organizations without whom this report would not have been possible. We would like to thank all stakeholders, specifically the Nursing Unit, the Nursing Council of Kenya, the Human Resources Department, the National Nurses Association of Kenya, the Kenya Progressive Nurses Association, nurse training and employing institutions from the public, private and faith-based sectors, listed in Annex III. Additionally, we want
to thank the Emory University Kenya Health Workforce Project and CDC for their technical support, and PEPFAR for the financial support to develop the report.
In conclusion, it is our sincere hope that these data will be used by policy makers, program managers and researchers to improve health workforce management and health services delivery in Kenya.
Sincerely,
Prof. F. H. K. Segor
Principal Secretary
Ministry of Health