Close Menu
  • Home
  • Kenya News
  • World News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Columnists
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Athletics
    • Rugby
    • Golf
  • Lifestyle & Travel
    • Travel
  • Gossip
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
News CentralNews Central
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Kenya News
  • World News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Columnists
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
    1. Football
    2. Athletics
    3. Rugby
    4. Golf
    5. View All

    Airtel's foundation to upskill African women with digital knowledge

    August 20, 2025

    Ruto's executive rot: When the pot calls the kettle black

    August 20, 2025

    Harambee Stars’ pathway to 2024 Chan final

    August 20, 2025

    Inside troubled career of slain ex-Siaya clerk

    August 20, 2025

    Airtel's foundation to upskill African women with digital knowledge

    August 20, 2025

    Ruto's executive rot: When the pot calls the kettle black

    August 20, 2025

    Harambee Stars’ pathway to 2024 Chan final

    August 20, 2025

    Inside troubled career of slain ex-Siaya clerk

    August 20, 2025

    Airtel's foundation to upskill African women with digital knowledge

    August 20, 2025

    Ruto's executive rot: When the pot calls the kettle black

    August 20, 2025

    Harambee Stars’ pathway to 2024 Chan final

    August 20, 2025

    Inside troubled career of slain ex-Siaya clerk

    August 20, 2025

    Airtel's foundation to upskill African women with digital knowledge

    August 20, 2025

    Ruto's executive rot: When the pot calls the kettle black

    August 20, 2025

    Harambee Stars’ pathway to 2024 Chan final

    August 20, 2025

    Inside troubled career of slain ex-Siaya clerk

    August 20, 2025

    Airtel's foundation to upskill African women with digital knowledge

    August 20, 2025

    Ruto's executive rot: When the pot calls the kettle black

    August 20, 2025

    Harambee Stars’ pathway to 2024 Chan final

    August 20, 2025

    Inside troubled career of slain ex-Siaya clerk

    August 20, 2025
  • Lifestyle & Travel
    1. Travel
    2. View All

    Airtel's foundation to upskill African women with digital knowledge

    August 20, 2025

    Ruto's executive rot: When the pot calls the kettle black

    August 20, 2025

    Harambee Stars’ pathway to 2024 Chan final

    August 20, 2025

    Inside troubled career of slain ex-Siaya clerk

    August 20, 2025

    Airtel's foundation to upskill African women with digital knowledge

    August 20, 2025

    Ruto's executive rot: When the pot calls the kettle black

    August 20, 2025

    Harambee Stars’ pathway to 2024 Chan final

    August 20, 2025

    Inside troubled career of slain ex-Siaya clerk

    August 20, 2025
  • Gossip
News CentralNews Central
Home»Health»Sick newborns get only 30 minutes of nursing care daily
Health

Sick newborns get only 30 minutes of nursing care daily

By by JOHN MUCHANGIAugust 19, 2025No Comments6 Mins Read
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest Copy Link LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte Telegram Reddit WhatsApp
Sick newborns get only 30 minutes of nursing care daily
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Copy Link LinkedIn Tumblr Reddit VKontakte Telegram WhatsApp

One mother described how the constant beeping of medical machines made her fearful: “All the time the machines beep, if you just hear that sound ‘twitwitwi’ that baby is gone [dead].”


A sick or premature baby in a Kenyan hospital receives only
30 minutes of a nurse’s attention during a 12-hour shift, researchers have
found.

That is due to a critical shortage of neonatal nurses in public hospitals. The researchers said one nurse is often responsible for nearly 20
infants, and sometimes more than 25. By contrast, private hospitals limit nurses
to no more than seven babies each.

The researchers, from the Kemri-Wellcome Trust Research
Programme (KWTRP) and the Kenya Paediatric Research Consortium (Keprecon), observed
nearly 600 babies for more than 1,800 hours in eight public hospitals to
capture the reality of missed nursing care.

They observed that overwhelmed nurses often offload their
duties to mothers of these babies and nursing students doing rotation in the
neonatal wards.

“Nurses deliver roughly one-third of the care a sick newborn
needs, while mothers or student nurses provide another third, and about 40 per
cent of required care goes completely undone,” said Prof Fred Were, the CEO and
chief executive researcher at Keprecon.

The findings were presented in six briefs based on the
Harnessing Innovation in Global Health for Quality Care (High-Q) project by
Keprecon and Kemri-Wellcome Trust, and related research.

High-Q evaluates how new technologies and workforce
innovations influence the quality of care in newborn units (NBUs).

The research team also piloted interventions in four county
hospitals, where three additional nurses and three ward assistants (WAs) were
introduced to newborn units for periods of up to 15 months.

Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) Director General
Prof Elijah Songok said the findings expose a major bottleneck in Kenya’s quest
to reduce newborn deaths.

 “Nurse shortages and
high patient loads can affect the delivery of this care,” he said. “Nurses
remain the primary providers of essential care for sick and premature newborns,
responsible for managing breathing support, monitoring, feeding, administering
medications, providing hygiene, and emergency interventions.”

The briefs indicate that nurses spend a significant portion of their already limited time on non-clinical tasks. Instead of feeding, monitoring and soothing
babies, they often end up cleaning equipment, changing linens or fetching
supplies. The High-Q observations found that routine tasks such as feeding,
monitoring, and repositioning are informally delegated to mothers when nurses
are overwhelmed.

One mother described how the constant beeping of medical
machines made her fearful: “All the time the machines beep, if you just hear
that sound ‘twitwitwi’ that baby is gone [dead]. It gave me a heavy burden in
the heart.”

Another recalled being scolded after asking a question:
“When I asked something, she [a nurse] answered me harshly. From then on, I
just kept quiet. I feared asking again.”

These accounts underline how thinly stretched nurses cannot
offer mothers the guidance or reassurance that is essential for family-centred
care.

Nurses themselves admitted that under pressure, they
prioritised the sickest babies, focusing on life-saving interventions like
oxygen therapy, resuscitation or IV medications, while other important tasks (including
educating mothers on feeding, hygiene and emotional support) were pushed aside.

A nurse explained, “Sometimes, even the calculation of these
doses, we help each other. I appreciate it. The workload, like you
used to go in a shift alone [before the intervention], now she [new nurse] has
come, you see the workload now is shared.”

The High-Q team tested whether adding more hands on deck
could help. They introduced three extra nurses and three trained ward
assistants (WAs) to each of the four public newborn units. Adding nurses had only a
modest effect: nursing time per baby rose from 34 to 43 minutes per 12-hour
shift, a 25 per cent jump, but still far below high-income-country standards.
More importantly, it freed some nurses from their isolation and allowed for
breaks, mentoring, and better teamwork.

Ward Assistants, however, proved especially impactful. They
were trained for a week to focus on non-clinical tasks such as changing diapers,
cleaning equipment, preparing feeds, managing waste and guiding mothers.

“By handling non-nursing tasks, WAs enabled nurses to focus
on technical tasks,” one brief reports.

The research team found “improved work efficiency among
nurses, a sense of support among some nurses, more substantial support for
mothers, and better hygiene and infection control” after WAs started work.

Staff reported that WAs helping with laundry, equipment
cleaning and basic feeding meant nurses could return to patients sooner and
attend medical rounds. Nurses also found they could take breaks and leave when
needed, improving morale.

One policy brief titled “Mothers’ experiences and caregiving
responsibilities in newborn units”, said mothers felt the difference. It
describes WAs guiding new mothers through the unfamiliar ward: “[They] guided
new mothers around the unit, helped with tasks like baby cleaning and feeding,
and were often more available than nurses to answer questions and give
practical help.”

One mother remembered: “The ward assistant showed me how to
cup-feed my baby. I had feared I might choke him, but she held my hand and told
me not to worry.” Another added, “The ward assistant reminded me to wash my
hands every time I touched the baby. She was not harsh, she was kind.”

The evidence shows that shifting such support tasks away
from nurses works. For instance, nurses in units with WAs reported smoother
teamwork and could focus more on monitoring vital signs, adjusting oxygen and
other life-saving duties. Better hygiene followed – wards were cleaner and
infection control improved once WAs took over waste disposal and cleaning
routines.

Dr Michuki Maina, a paediatrician and health systems
researcher at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Programme (KWTRP) in Nairobi, said that
adding three nurses to already-understaffed units made a difference, but
nowhere near what’s needed to close the care gap.

“Meaningful increases in nursing care will require much more
significant increases in nurse staffing than the pilot intervention achieved,
but these small steps are also important,” he said.

Prof Songok said the findings show that continuous
investment is required to achieve the third Sustainable Development Goal
on reducing deaths in the first 28 days of life (neonatal mortality) to below
12 deaths per 1,000 live births.

“In Kenya, reducing neonatal mortality from an average
22/1000 live births is part of the government’s efforts to achieve Universal
Health Coverage (UHC) and key to this is the role of nursing in neonatal care,”
he said.

He urged policymakers to greatly expand the number of
neonatal nurses and to formalise the role of ward assistants in every newborn
unit.

Published Date: 2025-08-19 23:06:45
Author: by JOHN MUCHANGI
Source: The Star
by JOHN MUCHANGI

Add A Comment
Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

News Just In

Airtel's foundation to upskill African women with digital knowledge

August 20, 2025

Ruto's executive rot: When the pot calls the kettle black

August 20, 2025

Harambee Stars’ pathway to 2024 Chan final

August 20, 2025

Inside troubled career of slain ex-Siaya clerk

August 20, 2025
Crystalgate Group is digital transformation consultancy and software development company that provides cutting edge engineering solutions, helping companies and enterprise clients untangle complex issues that always emerge during their digital evolution journey. Contact us on https://crystalgate.co.ke/
News Central
News Central
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram WhatsApp RSS
Quick Links
  • Kenya News
  • World News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Columnists
  • Entertainment
  • Gossip
  • Lifestyle & Travel
  • Sports
  • About News Central
  • Advertise with US
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact Us
About Us
At NewsCentral, we are committed to delivering in-depth journalism, real-time updates, and thoughtful commentary on the issues that matter to our readers.
© 2025 News Central.
  • Advertise with US
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.