Education & Training

The government of Kenya acknowledges the existing shortage in human resources for health and has been pursuing strategies to address the gap in numbers and skills. The government through universities and tertiary teaching colleges has expanded the enrolment for health workforce trainees and also accelerated the delivery of in-service courses to equip the existing workforce with requisite skills for delivery of health care services. In Embu, the Kenya Medical Training College offers courses in nursing. Embu University College, Kenyatta University and Chuka University also offer undergraduate courses in medicine and nursing. Parallel to the government led initiative, privately owned institutions, both for profit and nonprofit, have also been setting up medical training campuses through partnerships with local hospitals. Such institutions include Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) and the Kyeni Hospital’s Fidenza Nursing School.Embu Hospital has been facilitating research through enabling medical practitioners generate knowledge that is applied at hospitals, lower level facilities or community. Staffs of the hospital, guided by the hospital research and ethics committee, also undertake clinical and operational research thus contributing to the body of knowledge. The repository of health research data generated from research undertaken at the hospital in collaboration with other institutions is crucial in informing health policies in line with the current focus on evidence based health decisions. The hospital’s senior management and the county health leadership acknowledge that this practice has not been optimal.The hospital has an active education and training committee that deals with trainings of health workers to improve their knowledge and skills thus offering high quality health services to clients. The health facility also conducts continuous medical education (CMEs) and hospital grand rounds regularly coordinated by the department of health education and promotion to update health workers on health matters such as infection prevention and control. New groups of interns, attachees and newly deployed members of staff are also inducted on IPC immediately they report to the health facility to ensure IPC standards are adhered to. The facility has a resource center with good reference materials and computers. Patient health education is conducted in the departments to ensure good health.