Nurses' strike leaves patients waiting for hours as hospitals seek ways to cope

Pateints left waiting because of the ongoing nurses' strike. [File, Standard]

Patients were left waiting for hours on Tuesday as the ongoing nurses’ strike put pressure on available healthcare workers attending to the large number of people seeking treatment.

At Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, Sharon Atieno arrived at about 10 am seeking treatment but was still waiting to be attended to by 3:47 pm.

"When I came in around 10 am, I found so many people to a point some were standing because the seats had all been occupied," she said

Sharon also said some of those helping patients were student nurses from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and other medical schools, whom she identified from the writing on their nurses’ uniforms.

"Their uniforms have the school name and logo; that's how I knew," she said.

She said the students were helping in the hospital nurses' absence, but the large number of patients was overwhelming the available staff, with one healthcare worker sometimes needed by several patients at the same time.

For Maureen Achieng, the search for treatment had already taken her to more than one public facility.

Maureen had first taken the sick patient she was accompanying to Mama Margaret Hospital but did not get treatment there, prompting them to seek help at Mama Lucy.

They arrived at about 1 pm with the patient, who Maureen said needed to be stabilised because of high blood pressure, but were still waiting to be attended to several hours later.

" We got here around 1 pm with a patient who needed to be stabilised before admission, but two hours later we have not been helped. We're still in this long queue," she said.

But while some public hospitals are struggling to cope with reduced staffing, others have implemented measures to keep services running.

At Mbagathi County Referral Hospital, services were continuing normally despite the strike, with the facility relying on nurses engaged on a locum basis to bridge staffing gaps.

Mbagathi CEO Dr Alexander Irungu said the hospital had continued receiving patients and that no services had stalled.

“We are still operating and receiving patients. Nothing has stalled, and services are continuing normally,” Dr Irungu said.

He said the hospital had activated contingency measures, including engaging nurses on a locum basis and hiring additional staff where necessary to bridge gaps left by striking healthcare workers.The contrast comes as nurses continue their nationwide strike over grievances including implementation of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), employment of Universal Health Coverage nurses on permanent and pensionable terms and implementation of nursing career progression guidelines.

The Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) on Tuesday maintained that the industrial action remained in force following a meeting with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and Kenyatta National Hospital management.

The meeting focused on the CBA for KNH nurses, with SRC committing to provide its feedback and advice before the end of Tuesday.

The County Nurses’ CBA was also briefly discussed, with SRC indicating that the matter required adequate time for comprehensive deliberation after the KNH issues had been addressed.

KNUNM said the nationwide strike would continue until all its grievances and demands were fully addressed.

“The Nationwide Nurses' Strike remains on course. The industrial action will continue until all our grievances and demands are fully addressed to the satisfaction of nurses,” the union said.

The union urged nurses to remain united and steadfast as efforts to resolve the dispute continue.