News Categories: Health and Sanitation

Grief and bereavement are universal experiences that people go through when they are dealing with a loss in their lives. In end-of-life care, nurses must understand the fundamentals about grief, loss, and bereavement on the part of patients and families, and also within themselves. Individuals each express and cope with losses differently and a nurse should expect to see that when working with patients and families at the end of life.

And when a baby dies from miscarriage, stillbirth, or after birth, families experience grief. How medical professionals respond during this vulnerable time will affect families for the rest of their lives. Appropriate guidance from caregivers can help start the healing process. Medical professionals themselves need guidance in just how to walk families through this journey. They also need to learn how to manage their own feelings to maintain their personal resilience.

Caring for bereaved families can be demanding and draining for nurses and other healthcare professionals. They need training and support to know the right things to say and do. They also need education about how to take care of themselves in these complex situations. A perinatal bereavement training program is a valuable asset to the county government of Nandi healthcare workforce.

Thus the County Government of Nandi in partnership with Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiatives (KAVI-UoN), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) have joined hands to offer the advanced perinatal bereavement training for the healthcare workforce. Today, the second cohort of healthcare professionals underwent the training to prepares them to provide support to bereaved families.

A unique traumatic life event, perinatal loss requires a specialized approach to care.

All the losses have magnified the universal need for bereavement education – in nursing school and beyond. Caring for patients doesn’t stop at the end of life.

The psychological outcomes for many parents who experience perinatal loss depend on nursing staff’s ability to provide effective bereavement support. However, most nurses and midwives lack the ability to provide bereavement care and suffer from heavy emotional burden.

Perinatal bereavement is a healthcare problem that may cause serious psychological problems to bereaved women and their families. Depression, anxiety, feelings of failure, guilt, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal ideation are commonly seen among bereaved parents.

Perinatal loss is associated with negative pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage, therapeutic abortion, stillbirth and neonatal death.

Beareved parents depend on a healthcare professionals’ ability to provide effective bereavement support.

In view of the above, the County Government of Nandi in partnership with Kenya Aids Vaccine Initiatives (KAVI-UoN), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) held a bereavement care training in Kapsabet for nurses from across the six sub counties. The training programme is intended to assist nurses and midwives in improving their confidence and ability to provide perinatal bereavement care and to relieve the symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (STS) and emotional exhaustion (EE) in the context of bereavement practice.

The objective of the training is to improve the perinatal bereavement care knowledge and skills of nurses and midwives to enhance their confidence and ability to provide perinatal bereavement care and to relieve the heavy emotional burden of nursing professionals and improve their psychological well-being, which is an important guarantee to high-quality perinatal bereavement care services.

Nurses frequently provide solace to patients and their families during times of bereavement, offering a supportive presence and lending a listening ear. Moreover, nurses are instrumental in delivering end-of-life care, ensuring patients’ comfort in their final moments. Collaborating with healthcare members, they attend to not just the physical aspects of pain management but also the emotional and spiritual facets of the end-of-life experience. Nursing’s role in easing grief and navigating loss is fundamental, underscoring the profession’s dedication to holistic, compassionate care.

Biomedical engineers (BMEs) play a critical role in healthcare provision, especially in ensuring the hospitals can provide lifesaving medical oxygen supplies to the patients who need it most at all times. They are responsible for repairing and maintaining a range of medical apparatus, including oxygen plants and equipment, ensuring that nurses and doctors have the equipments they need and when they need them, to effectively provide care for all patients. Nandi County has two oxygen plants stationed at Kapsabet and Nandi Hills.

Hence, the maintenance of the equipments is a key role of the BMEs. The main areas where oxygen is used in the hospital include; Intensive Care Units (ICU), theatres, wards, ambulances and home care. The Department of Health continues to equip its staff with the necessary skills to conduct their work effectively.

The BMEs has for the last four days undergone capacity building and training with Jhpiego(Rise Adhoc Program) a USAID funded organisation and oxygen experts that saw twenty Biomedical engineers drawn from Kapsabet County Referral Hospital and NandiHills SubCounty Hospital. The training aims at embracing sustainability to curb dependance and the engineers being able to carry out maintenance of the plants as per manufacturers schedule.

“We need to ensure science comes to reality in order to make the experts skillful and knowledgeable. Our mandate is to ensure oxygen is available to all patience at all times.” Said Engineer Thaddeus Ogutu, who’s an oxygen expert and a consultant having worked with WHO and HEWA TELE.

County BioMed Engineer Isaiah Kibuge, attending the training mentioned that they strive to ensure that health workers will never have to choose which life to save especially because of limited Oxygen supply. “We have installed backup systems in place to make certain that we do not interrupt the patients oxygen flow in our facilities.” he reiterated.

The intensive training handled the principles of operation of oxygen generators and refilling units. “We train the BioMeds to make them technically endowed with information so that they can train other young BioMeds and cascade down to young engineers for the continuity of information and knowledge for practise” Said Evelyn Muringo from Jhpiego.

The workshop was carried out and included site visits to the oxygen production facilities, practical sessions on equipment management and repair.

Nandi residents have been urged to go for regular medical checkups to avoid late diagnosis of diseases.

Speaking during Joyful Women Organization – Mama Doing Good event in Maraba, Tindiret Sub County, county Health executive Ruth Koech said many of the health conditions afflicting the people of Nandi, especially in rural areas, can be treated if detected early. 

She said late diagnosis of any disease portends more complications. “It’s advisable for everyone to do regular checkups on the diabetes and hypertension diseases so as to help manage them at an earlier stage,” she said.

The CEC Member later visted Meteitei Sub County Hospital to check on health care and services delivery at the facility.

In attendance at the Joywo event were the spouse to Tinderet MP Selina Meli, Mama Doing Good officials and Tinderet Sub County DCC Madam Esther Oyugi.

Following the launch of the community health program and distribution of Community Health Promoters (CHP) kits nationwide last year, the County Government of Nandi, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health – Division of Community Health, recognized and awarded the best-performing community health unit in the county.

A community health unit is the basic health service delivery structure within a defined geographic area, covering a population of approximately 5,000 people. It is served by CHPs, who are supervised by a Community Health Assistant (CHA). CHPs act as the link between community members and the health system, providing preventive and promotive health services.

Kaptumo/Kaboi Ward in Aldai Sub County, lies Kaboi Community Health Unit (CHU), a beacon of excellence in community health in 2023. In a ceremony presided over by the Chief Officer for Health and Sanitation Fredrick Kiptum, Kaboi Community Health Unit was recognized as the best-performing CHU in Nandi County.

Kaboi Community Health Unit’s success is linked to the CHA and CHP’s proactiveness and dedication.

The County Government of Nandi recognizes the importance of a well-equipped and motivated community health workforce. The Department of Health and Sanitation will continue its efforts to advocate for fair remuneration, digitization, and institutionalization, striving for a future where every CHP feels valued and empowered.

Kaboi Community Health Unit is about a community united by a passion for health and a commitment to making a difference. Their journey serves as an inspiration, proving that dedication and a little support can lead to remarkable achievements, one household visit at a time.

In a continued demonstration of its commitment to meet the County’s increased demand for surgical procedures, the County Department of Health and Sanitation have expanded Mosoriot and Kabiyet Hospitals by setting up new operating theatres complete with modern equipment designed to raise the standard of healthcare delivery in Nandi.

The operating theatres is part of county plans to increase diagnostic, surgical and inpatient capacity across the sub county hospitals.

Speaking during a visit to the facilities, the Chief Officer for Health and Sanitation Fredrick Kiptum said that the new theatres will enhance the care our hardworking teams provide for our people, as well as improving the working environment to our talented workforce.

“The two new operating theatres demonstrate the commitment we have to the residents of this county, meeting the increased demand for surgical procedures, enabling more people to access quality healthcare and providing for the future needs of Nandi residents,” said the Chief Officer.

The new theatre facilities mark the latest milestone in several developments in the the health sector which will help to deliver better health and care for the residents of the great Nandi county.

He was accompanied by the County Director for Health Dr David Bungei.

The Chief Officer for Health and Sanitation Fredrick Kiptum has expressed optimism that increased public-private partnerships in the health sector will boost the county’s delivery of healthcare services to Nandi residents.

He was speaking today during a handover of staff houses in Chepsire Dispensary, Kapsimotwa Ward, Tindiret Sub County.

The construction of the two staff houses were constructed through a PPP with Afya Research Africa (ARA).

The Chief Officer said strategic partnerships between the county government of Nandi and the private sector will help speed up the achievement of affordable, quality healthcare.

“Such partnerships like what we are witnessing here today have a great impact in the lives of the great people of Nandi and specifically in in the county’s health sector.

He applauded Afya Research Africa and its partners for ensuring that the project was delivered on schedule and pointed out that the staff houses within the facility will help reverse maternal and child mortality rates in the region as nurses will be stationed within the facility.

He called on the residents to maximize services offered at the facility.

Other speakers included Kapsimotwa Ward MCA Hon Edwin Korir, Elizabeth Ombech – ARA Director of Operations, and Rogers Omondi – ARA Program Associate and Tindiret Sub County Administrator Cosmas Kemboi and Tindiret MoH Dr Joseph Kibor.

At least 97 Community Health Assistants (CHAs) drawn from all the six sub counties have been trained by the County Government of Nandi in partnership with Amref Health Africa and the Ministry of Health – Division of Community Health, in order to enhance their capacity in service delivery.

The training program is designed to empower and build capacity of the CHAs by equipping them with the skills, knowledge and competencies and hence significantly improve the quality of health service delivery at the community level.

Speaking at the close of the 3-days training, the Chief Officer for Health and Sanitation Fredrick Kiptum, said the County will ensure community health assistants, are well equipped with adequate skills, to do their work well, as one way of reducing the burden on the healthcare system, by preventing diseases, promoting healthier lifestyles and providing vital health support to families.

The Chief Officer emphasized that strengthening of Primary Health Care (PHC), was at the heart of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and, therefore, the CHAs training was equally important.

He said the County Government valued the health workforce because it is central to the delivery of quality health services and that they were exploring local and international development partnerships, to prioritize support for the community health program, as a key contributor to UHC.

The county government of Nandi seeks to make good use of Community Health Assistants (CHAS) and Community Health Promoters (CHPs) to sensitize communities on best practices to live healthy lives.

The Chief Officer for Health and Sanitation Fredrick Kiptum has vowed that his department would remain committed to delivering quality healthcare to all residents in the county.

Kiptum said that healthcare was among the core priorities of Governor Sang’s government.

The new Mother and Child Hospital

The Chief Officer promised that no effort would be spared in improving the state’s health sector. “The responsibility of the county government is to ensure quality health care, whether you are rich or poor. So, what we are doing is to putting up mechanisms in place where everybody can access our health care system.”

“Delivering improved quality health is an underpinning factor in our promise of Renewed Hope to the great people of Nandi. That hope is ignited with the support of all healthcare workers in our facilities; health is back on the front burner,” he added.

The Chief Officer said that health is not merely the absence of disease but the embodiment of physical, mental, and social well-being. Adding that it is a fundamental human right and Nandi county’s commitment to achieving Universal Health Care Coverage is reflected in the unwavering dedication of Governor Sang’s administration to uphold this right for every individual, young or old, in rural or urban areas.

Effective, sustainable progress in comprehensive school health depends on a common vision, shared responsibilities and harmonized actions among health, education and other sectors.

School Health Programs are acknowledged as a comprehensive approach to improving children’s health and educational outcomes through learning and school life. Principals and Head Teachers are key players in school health implementation.

By enhancing collaboration between schools, health services and primary care, the overall health outcomes of young individuals can be improved, emphasizing the interconnectedness between school health services and the broader health care system.

To enhance school health program in the county, officials from the County Department of Health held a school health sensitization meeting with Principals and Head Teachers drawn from Tinderet Sub County. The meeting was held at the AIC Lelgotet Church in Songhor/Soba Ward and attended by the County Director of Education Mr Harrison Muriuki.

Discussions centered on the formulation of a cohesive strategy and plan to coordinate efforts in safeguarding school health.

The School Health Program includes; Water and sanitation, Gender Based Violence, Immunization, Mental health, Food quality control, Nutrition, Environmental health safeguard, Physical education and Communicable disease control.

Schools’ unique ability to reach all levels of society positions them to play a crucial role in children’s healthcare. They are efficient platforms for conducting health assessments benefiting a broad range of children, and for connecting families to additional services and care.

Present at the meeting were Cleophas Koech – County School Health Coordinator, Abigael Jepkoech – County GBV Coordinator and Tiparo – County Mental Health Coordinator.