It ' s Time for Nurses Like Beth to Lead

By Carol Bales , Advocacy and policy communications manager, IntraHealth International ; Samantha Rick, Deputy director, Frontline Health Workers Coalition Nurse Beth Wachire leads a team of health workers, including nurses and community health workers, at Mathare North Health Facility in Kenya. “They see me as one of them, working hand-in-hand with them.” Photo by Patrick Meinhardt for IntraHealth International.May 12, 2020On a chilly morning in February 2020, Beth Wachire watches over her team at Mathare North Health Facility in Nairobi, Kenya.As the deputy nurse-in-charge, Beth oversees 25 health workers—including 15 nurses and several community health workers.Beth’s team serves around 58,683 people in one of the largest slums in Nairobi. Despite resource limitations and other challenges, the team, Beth says, functions like a well-oiled machine as they provide essential health services, including family planning, safe delivery, and HIV prevention and treatment. Mutual respect is key.“The way I interact with them, the way I hear them, the way I talk to them—I try to be part of them,” she says.“I work with them in maternity, I mentor them. And for some, I continue education, like neonatal obstetric care. When they have an emergency, they call me and I help them.”
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Family Planning & Reproductive Health HIV AIDS Maternal, Newborn, Child Health Community Engagement Advocacy International Nurses Day Nursing Midwifery 2020 Source Type: news