ArticleHuman resources for health2014
The public sector nursing workforce in Kenya: a county-level analysis.
Article in Human resources for health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effect of human resource management on performance in hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic literature review.Human resources for health · 2018Pooled it
- What does the literature tell us about health workers' experiences of task-shifting projects in sub-Saharan Africa? A systematic, qualitative review.Journal of clinical nursing · 2016Pooled it
- A Dual Hospital-University Specialist Training Reform to Address Workforce Shortage and Geographic Maldistribution in Indonesia: Integrative Qualitative Policy Process Review.JMIR medical education · 2026Article
- Bridging the gap in patient care: utilization of nutrition risk screening tools in Kenyan referral hospitals.BMC research notes · 2026Article
- Digitalized human resources for health information systems in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review.Human resources for health · 2025Article
- Experiences of mothers in the context of a staffing intervention in select newborn units in Kenyan public hospitals.International journal of nursing studies · 2025Article
- Nurses experiences with an intervention enhancing skill-mix in Kenyan neonatal units with severe workforce deficits: A qualitative study.International journal of nursing studies · 2025Article
- Learning from the Kenyan experiment: key takeaways for implementing managed equipment services in developing countries.Frontiers in health services · 2025Article
- Revealing spatiotemporal inequalities, hotspots, and determinants in healthcare resource distribution: insights from hospital beds panel data in 2308 Chinese counties.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Health facilities preparedness to deliver maternal and newborn health care in Kilifi and Kisii Counties, Kenya.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Adherence to labor and delivery care quality standards and associated factors among nurse-midwives in two public teaching and referral hospitals in Kenya: a cross-sectional survey.The Pan African medical journal · 2023Article
- Understanding intra- and interprofessional team and teamwork processes by exploring facility-based neonatal care in kenyan hospitals.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Understanding the performance of county health service delivery in Kenya: a mixed-method analysis.Health policy and planning · 2022Article
- County Health Leadership Practices and Readiness for Noncommunicable Disease Services in Kenya.Annals of global health · 2022Article
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- Determining a Trusting Environment for Maternity Care: A Framework Based on Perspectives of Women, Communities, Service Providers, and Managers in Peri-Urban Kenya.Frontiers in global women's health · 2022Article
- Examining the cost-effectiveness of personal protective equipment for formal healthcare workers in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Infant malnutrition treatment in Kenya: Health worker and breastfeeding peer supporter experiences.Maternal & child nutrition · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundKenya's human resources for health shortage is well documented, yet in line with the new constitution, responsibility for health service delivery will be devolved to 47 new county administrations. This work describes the public sector nursing workforce likely to be inherited by the counties, and examines the relationships between nursing workforce density and key indicators.
methodsNational nursing deployment data linked to nursing supply data were used and analyzed using statistical and geographical analysis software. Data on nurses deployed in national referral hospitals and on nurses deployed in non-public sector facilities were excluded from main analyses. The densities and characteristics of the public sector nurses across the counties were obtained and examined against an index of county remoteness, and the nursing densities were correlated with five key indicators.
resultsOf the 16,371 nurses in the public non-tertiary sector, 76% are women and 53% are registered nurses, with 35% of the nurses aged 40 to 49 years. The nursing densities across counties range from 1.2 to 0.08 per 1,000 population. There are statistically significant associations of the nursing densities with a measure of health spending per capita (P value = 0.0028) and immunization rates (P value = 0.0018). A higher county remoteness index is associated with explaining lower female to male ratio of public sector nurses across counties (P value <0.0001).
conclusionsAn overall shortage of nurses (range of 1.2 to 0.08 per 1,000) in the public sector countrywide is complicated by mal-distribution and varying workforce characteristics (for example, age profile) across counties. All stakeholders should support improvements in human resources information systems and help address personnel shortages and mal-distribution if equitable, quality health-care delivery in the counties is to be achieved.
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