As a means to ensure African nurses secure an opportunity to work overseas, The Kenya National Union of Nurses has launched training and sensitization exercises, which aim at ensuring they are in terms with requirements and policies in overseas countries.
The drive which has seen over 600 nurses across the six counties in Western and Nyanza region trained with skills and proficiency in language, aims at ensuring they mitigate the shame of big numbers of nurses failing to meet requirements, whenever an opportunity arises.
Speaking at a Busia Hotel, Justine Justus, a recruitment manager at The Kenya National Union of Nurses said that the union is aiming at linking-up nurses to the opportunity by ensuring they fast-track their training and registration with oversee bodies.
“Our objective is to train them and register them to bodies such as the American Nurse Society among others, just to open-up their network for overseas job,” noted Justice.
“Our mission is to simplify registration exercises and save Kenyan nurses from falling victims of unlicensed bodies that are out to con them,” he added.
In recent days there have been a rise of brokers who deceived Kenyans on overseas jobs only to end-up in scams. This is the drive that has communicated the efforts by Kenya nurses to move swiftly to sensitize and educate nurses on their rights and power to work abroad.
For eligibility for registration one need to have a practicing license, a degree or diploma in nursing and willingness to work overseas.
“Once you have a practicing license you qualify, no work experience needed, as we will give basic training on the same,” he noted.
The nurse will undergo six months training before the Commission of Nursing of Foreign Nursing schools verify the authenticity of the license, to enable practice overseas.
Already over 50,000 nurses have been trained across the country with a target of one million by 2037.
Winny Magero and Roseline Tiema nurses at Bwingi and Wakhungu dispensaries respectively applauded the move, noting that it will help address the state of hopelessness brought about by unemployment.
“The initiative will give a chance to thousands of nurses who graduate yearly and have no place to practice. Also it will help elevate most nurses out of poverty as they will have power to negotiate their terms well,” noted Magero.
On August 21, 2023, the Kenyan government sent their second batch of seven nurses.
Health Cabinet Secretary by then, Susan Nakhumicha, Monday (August 21 2023), flagged-off the second batch of 76 nurses from Kenya to work in the United Kingdom.
The CS revealed that the second batch of nurses, selected from 701 applicants, will leave the country on the 24th of this month.
Nakhumicha further revealed that only 424 nurses met the requirements and their applications were submitted to various recruiters for consideration, while 277 did not.
According to the progress report on the recruitment of Kenyan nurses under the Kenya-UK bilateral health workforce, released by the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK) and the Ministry of Health, 198 applicants did not sit the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Occupational English Test (OET), 79 failed the IELTS tests, 200 did not sit the Computer Based Testing (CBT) 200 while 77 failed the CBT.
President William Ruto has been championing the government-to-government bilateral labour agreement between Kenya and the United Kingdom, USA and other states, which exemplifies the strength and benefits of international collaboration and partnerships.
By Absalom Namwalo
