In busy newborn units across Kenya, nurses are stretched beyond their limits caring for more than 25 sick babies each during a 12-hour shift.
A new study has revealed that despite hospitals receiving advanced medical equipment, the severe shortage of nurses is preventing newborns from getting the care they desperately need.
The study, called Harnessing Innovation in Global Health for Quality Care (HIGH-Q), looked at eight county hospitals and found that babies in public facilities receive only about a third of the nursing care they require.
Nurses have just 30 minutes per baby per shift far less than what is recommended globally.
There are human tragedies behind these figures. Mothers reported feeling stranded, worried, and unsupported, and nurses reported utmost stress, burnout, and exhaustion. Congestion, poor layout, and lack of privacy add to the issue harming not just hygiene and safety, but also dignity for both health workers and families.
Prof. Mike English, the study’s lead investigator, warned that no amount of modern equipment will improve newborn care without more nurses and better working conditions. “It will be hard to achieve the quality of care we all want to see without improving nurse staffing and the wards where doctors, nurses, and mothers must work together,” he said.
The research tested three solutions:
- Hiring extra nurses, which improved teamwork but still fell short of safe staffing levels.
- Introducing ward assistants, who helped with basic care, cleanliness, and supporting mothers, easing some pressure on nurses.
- Communication training for nurses, which boosted understanding and compassion in dealing with parents.
- The HIGH-Q team is urging major changes, including hiring more nurses, redesigning hospital layouts, making ward assistants a permanent part of newborn care teams, and ensuring emotional support training for staff.
KEMRI Director General, Prof. Elijah Songok, called the findings a “wake-up call” for Kenya’s health system. “Workforce development is central to building a resilient health system,” he said. “We must ensure every newborn receives the quality care they deserve.”
With neonatal deaths in Kenya still high about 22 for every 1,000 births researchers say urgent action is needed.
For now, in overcrowded newborn wards, nurses and mothers continue doing their best in the toughest of conditions, fighting every day to give the country’s youngest citizens a chance at life.