The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #69856

Pamela McQuide, PhD, RN¹, Grace Kongoro, BSCN, RN, RM², Minette Coetzee, PhD, RN¹, and Martha Rogers, MD¹. (1) Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing, Emory University, 1520 Clifton Road, Suite 422, Atlanta, GA 30322-4207, (404) 727-8489, pmcquid@emory.edu, (2) Examination, Nursing Council of Kenya, P.O. Box 4043700100, Nairobi, Kenya

Accessible and accurate data on the supply and demand of nurses are essential for health and education policy and planning. In Kenya, as in other resource restricted countries, data on the number, qualification, deployment, migration, and deaths of nurses exist only in paper form. As a result, policy makers and nurse leaders have limited accurate data to use for making strategic decisions about deploying and training nurses. Access to these data is even more important today. Nurses are challenged with the HIV/AIDS crisis affecting them as caregivers while the global nurse shortage offers them opportunities to migrate to other countries.

This paper will present the process of setting up this collaborative project between nurses at the Lillian Carter Center for International Nursing at Emory University and the Kenyan Nursing Council, Ministry of Health, and other employers and educators of nurses. The practical implications of choosing an emancipatory stance and participatory action research will be explored as it has been worked out in this setting. Gathering, maintaining and linking these databases in resource poor countries poses significant challenges. While nurses training and registration records may be held by a national nursing council, employment records are widely distributed between employing agencies. The Nursing Workforce and Training Analysis in Kenya weaves together a rich tapestry of these challenges with an exciting blend of nurse and other health leaders.

Learning Objectives:

This presentation will enable learners to:
• Understand the process of developing an international project with nurse leaders and policy makers
• Understand the process of conducting a nursing workforce analysis in Kenya
• Explore the challenges to participation in this setting
• Explore the application of a critical theory base and emancipatory action research methods across geographic and cultural boundaries

Keywords: International Systems, Nurses

Related Web page: www.nursing.emory.edu/LCCIN/Projects.asp#kenya

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.