Kenya facing shortage of nurse anesthetists as only 500 employed

The Association of Registered Nurse Anesthetists in Kenya (ARNA-K) now says the profession is facing a shortage as only 500 of them presently exist in the country.

ARNA-K Chairman Samson Miriti spoke on the opening day of the Pan African Nurse Anesthetists Conference (PANAC) that is being held at the Nairobi Hospital.

Mr. Miriti acknowledged the strides made in the profession since establishment of ARNA-K in 2007 by Dr. Mark Newton, while welcoming African and diaspora delegates present at the conference.

“It is good to meet distinguished guests like you with one common agenda which is to make anesthesia safe. We recognize efforts made by Dr. Newton in Kenya where we now have over 500 nurse anesthetists in the 47 counties who administer safe anesthesia,” he stated.

His remarks were reiterated by Nairobi County Chief Medical Officer Dr. Irene Muchoki, who said there’s a need for more personnel in the field.

“We are very fortunate as a country to have a few nurse anesthetists who exemplify the best of the nursing profession. I hope this conference will propagate the training of more nurse anesthetists in Kenya especially for primary health care and other general services,” noted Dr. Muchoki.

The theme of this year’s three-day PANAC conference is ‘Enhancing maternal and child health with safe anesthesia.’

Dr. Jackie Rowles, President of the International Federation of Nurse Anesthetists, highlighted the importance of collaboration to improve the knowledge and skills offered to patients.

“Continuing education meetings are vital to our success so that we can review the best scientific evidence for practice improvement,” she said.