Big Changes Needed to Recruit and Retain Young Nurses, in Kenya and Beyond

By Arush Lal, Member, Global Health Workforce Network Youth Hub ; Samantha Rick, Deputy director, Frontline Health Workers Coalition Nursing students Catherine Kimeu (left) and Samuel Kamau Kuria (center) care for a client in a health facility in Kenya. Like nurses all over the world, they face gender-related stereotypes and barriers at work. Those challenges keep many young people from pursuing much-needed nursing careers. Photo by Patrick Meinhardt for IntraHealth International.April 08, 2020What does gender inequality look like for nurses in Kenya? How does it affect nurses every day at work? And what does it mean for the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic?We’ve found that young people are a key part of the answers to these questions. More than half of the world’s population is under 30, with an even higher proportion in sub-Saharan Africa.Health systems are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic with only half their reserves if they don’t meaningfully engage young people in health workforce leadership, particularly nursing.Young Kenyans are looking for careers where they can give back to their communities, but they often aren’t finding the support they need to enter health workforce professions. This is especially true for women, who make up 90% the nursing workforce worldwide but occupy only 25% of leadership roles.The stereotype was that nursing is only for women because it“requires a big heart a...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Education & Performance Policy Advocacy Private-Sector Approaches World Health Day World Health Worker Week Key Issues Gender Equality Global health security Health Financing Health Workforce Systems Youth Nurses Source Type: news