40 nurses resign from MTRH yearly, says CEO

At least 40 nurses resign from Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital annually to seek greener pastures, mostly abroad, causing a strain on medical staff, CEO Dr Phillip Kirwa has said.

The resignations have been hurting services at the facility, since the number of patients has been gradually increasing.

Kirwa said on Tuesday the facility always delivers services to clients despite shortage of key medical staff.

“It’s true we lose a good number of our nurses every year who resign to seek greener pastures but our staff have always done their best to serve patients with dedication and professionalism,” he said.

Nurses at the hospital have been on strike for a week and one of the reasons for the boycott has been the shortage of personnel.

Kirwa said the hospital has 1,300 nurses, but the number is low compared to the number required to work at he hospital. He did not give the exact figure of the nurses required.

“We cannot get the number we need but the government has continually provided funds for us to gradually hire more nurses and other staff,” he said.

The hospital last week received additional funding of Sh1 billion from the national government to ensure smooth operations.

“The extra funding will help us to deal with the few challenges we have, including some of the demands by the nurses,” Kirwa said.

Part of the money will be spent on paying third-party deductions, which is one of the reasons fronted by the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) for the strike.

The nurses union has also complained over delayed remittance of statutory deductions, rotational change in nursing department, stagnation in leadership and discrimination of staff in the private wing of the hospital.

Kirwa said the issues raised by the nurses' union and other staff have always been resolved through negotiations.

“We have always engaged in genuine dialogue with the union and other workers over the issues they raised in the past and we will always ensure a harmonious working environment for our staff,” he said.

Kirwa said the hospital values its staff and will always work to improve their welfare along with terms and conditions of service.