MS. HANNAH INYAMA

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are most common nosocomial infections in the acute care settings and long-term care facilities. In the acute care settings a vast majority of UTIs occur in patients with temporary urinary catheters. Nosocomial catheter-associated urinary tract infections (NCAUTIs) have been one of the major problems in the Intensive care unit (ICU) and have contributed to the mortality and morbidity of the patients. Efforts to contain the problem have resulted in the introduction of guidelines to reduce the incidence and prevalence of the nosocomial UTI. Such measures have been implemented in the developed world; unfortunately the developing countries have not duplicated the same. This descriptive cross-sectional study Urine samples were collected and analysed in the laboratory for growth of microorganisms to determine the incidence of NCAUTIs. The findings of the study indicate that the Incidence of NCAUTI was determined to be 18% with the common isolated microorganism being Escherichia coli. It recommend that, a procedure and policy on the management of a patient with a urinary catheter should be developed and made available for use in the ICU.

Background: Health care training including nursing have conventionally been delivered through face to face mode requiring physical presence of the trainee. Because of distance, shortage of staff, cost, perceived and/or real staff vacuum, higher training of working nurses have been a challenge. Therefore, the University of Nairobi (UoN), School of Nursing sciences (SONS) in partnership with AMREF established an innovative program to increase accessibility of higher training for working nurses.
Objective: To increase access to higher education for Nursing while maintaining acceptable staffing patterns and health care delivery services.
Methodology: This is a blended eLearning program where registered diploma nurses upgrade to BSc Nursing. The program takes three academic years, structured into 3 trimesters of 14 to 17 weeks. In addition, each semester has 2 weekly three face to face sessions with the remaining time dedicated for self-directed learning. The program has been running seamlessly since 2012.
Results: Five groups have been admitted since the inception totaling 300 students. Of the students, 80 %( n=240) are females. The transition of each class from one level to the next have been 80 to 95%. The performance by the student on individual course unit have been above 80 %( very good) including the biomedical courses.
Implication: E-Learning program is an effective model that should be adopted for nursing training. It improves accessibility to higher education for nurses, maintains staffing patterns while assuring continued service delivery. A unique collaboration between University and private entity bringing synergism and resource maximization has been brought forth. In conclusion, a review of the performance by the students undertaking this programme needs to be carried out to assess the trickledown effect of the accrued benefits of higher nursing training.