When cancer nurses are more stressed than patients; tales of oncologists in Kenya

Heavy workload and late presentation of cancer patients, the Oncology Nurses Union says, has exacerbated mental health issues among oncologists, amid a shortage of such professionals.

With over 100 people diagnosed with cancer in Kenya daily, the demand for oncology professionals' skills, expertise and knowledge has surged. 

“Addressing human resource shortages, erratic drugs supply as well as implementing structured debriefing programs is an urgent imperative for the national and county governments” says Roselyn Okumu, the President of the Oncology Nurses, Kenya Chapter.

On his part, David Makumi, the patron of the Oncology Nurses Kenya Chapter says non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cancer account for between 50 and 60 percent of hospital bed occupancy, straining the limited human resources.

Oncology nurses, according to the union, have equally been playing a role of supporting families of newly diagnosed patients to deal with the dying process and surrounding grief. 

According to the nurses, there is need to urgently invest in mental health for oncology professionals to prevent burn out, emotional exhaustion and compassion fatigue among other occupational stressors.

Stressed Civil servants

The revelation of the nurses' heightened stress levels comes on the heels of yet another report implicating civil servants to have been pushed into stress due to hard economic times.

In a report launched on Monday, it emerged that the number of government officers in need of counselling has doubled, with uniformed officers being the most affected.

This came as the government announced plans to hire more counselors for all government ministries to stem the rising cases of depression among civil servants.

Public Service PS Amos Gathecha said the harsh economic times coupled with low salaries are to blame for the rise in mental health cases among civil servants, adding that the state has lost billions of money due to lateness, absenteeism and general morale loss by civil servants.

“Mental health challenges affect productivity within the public service and according to the Kenya Mental Health Investment Case, our country lost Sh62.2 billion due to mental health conditions,” he said.