The Anchor, Eldoret, Kenya
One of the very frustrating questions, if you ask me today, is “How easy was your transition from high school to college?” Before responding to that, I have to take into consideration that a couple, if not many, of my classmates in high school did not manage to join college and those who did will tell you that “I did a course that was mainly out of pressure from my parents, peers or teachers”. On the other extreme, a few will claim “I transitioned from high school to college because I selected a course that (I) was so passionate about that no one could convince me otherwise if not the key trends in that industry”.
Nursing Career Selection
KenyanNurse as nursing consultancy firm has for the better part of the second half of this year been enabling high school students transition to institutions of higher learning through a ‘Nursing Journey Pathways Program’ that goes ahead to even guarantee overseas nursing opportunities to the passionate and daring students. The firm holds the view that college admissions in Kenya, run by KUCCPS are more of a brick and mortar model: if you schooled in a village in Western Kenya, you will only know of KUCCPS when you are in form four and you are required to submit your University/college course(s) preferences. By the time selection of courses is done in form four or revision later on, few students select the option of becoming nurses since we all yearn to become engineers and doctors as if the mentioned do not ever become sick. KenyanNurse firmly believes that course selection and career, afterwards, should be a conjecture of one’s passion and the trends ensuing in that industry.
Nightingale’s Inspiration
It was not until May 1820 that the mother of modern professional nursing was born. Florence Nightingale, born in Italy, sparked the start of a new generation of nursing. Just like many of us that are usually influenced by our peers and parents, she was opposed by her parents when she opted to become a nurse. Her allusion was that God called her to serve humanity and that was her chief mission in life; her parents still could not fathom that. Eventually, she became the first nurse to author a book on nursing as a profession and through her indulgence in the Crimean war, she managed to reduce mortality of British soldiers from 60% to 2.2% just by taking care of them and ensuring that they stayed in a clean environment. She was also the first one to establish a nursing college in 1860 and up to now Nightingale nursing remains an epitome. It is on this basis that we as KenyanNurse think the admission process for students in Kenya should change. There is need to establish or reengineer the mission of everyone before one can select their courses and careers after high school.
The Nursing Journey Pathways Program
The firm has set-up a go-to program that brings on board nursing training institutions in Kenya, and later on international institutions, and parents of high school graduates to chart a career path for the students. In Kenya and generally Africa, though with the highest demand for healthcare especially in the Universal Health Coverage agenda, healthcare workers, especially nurses, have been used as scapegoats to divert public money only to end up in a few peoples’ pockets (either in the nurse’s unions or the government grandeurs that head ministry of health and who nevertheless do not care).This has bedevilled the working conditions of the nurses, and as a matter of fact they are a key cog in the healthcare system, and many are desperate to at least leave their work for an alternative engagement like farming but the passion in them pushes them further to go an extra mile and work at least not for money but the impact.
KenyanNurse is cognizant of this fact and for the last 3 years it has enabled more than 700 nurses to migrate and practice abroad. The firm is now extending this to high school students who, first of all, must be admitted to KenyanNurse’s partner colleges and then after completing their nursing training they are linked directly to work abroad especially in countries that do not require nurses to have an experience like the UK.
We as KenyanNurse are committed to make a generational difference. What if you became our ambassador and reach out to your friend, brother, sister, child to get in touch with us and get admitted to our partner colleges for the September and March intakes? Be the next Nightingale by just spreading our word.
For admissions, send your KCSE results slip and ID/birth certificate to admissions@kenyannurse.com or whatsapp them to +254716192248.
By Wafula Ronald, CEO- KenyanNurse