Counties

Red Cross to hire nurses in 11 counties

abbas gullet

Kenya Red Cross Society's general secretary Abbas Gullet. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The Kenya Red Cross is hiring nurses on a temporary basis to help deal with medical emergencies in eleven counties hit by a malaria outbreak.

The move comes as nurses vow not to resume duty until their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is signed.

The temporary nurses are to be posted to Marsabit, Mandera, Baringo, Isiolo, Samburu, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Turkana, Lamu and West Pokot Counties.

A malaria outbreak in the devolved units has so far killed 50 people over the last two weeks with more than 2,000 people diagnosed with the disease.

Marsabit County is the worst affected region, recording at least 26 deaths, while about 1,300 people have been diagnosed. 

The disease has also claimed nine lives in Baringo County with villages such as Kapau, Chesawach, Tayier, Gulel, Akoret and Kongor hard hit.

Other affected areas include the Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County where 438 people tested positive for the disease.

According to the advert posted in the dailies, the nurses should be available for deployment, must be registered with the nursing Council of Kenya and possess a valid practicing license.

“Interested candidates should send their applications quoting the county of interest on the subject line,” says the notice.

Counties advertise

The move by the charity comes even as county governments have also advertised the positions of nurses who are on strike, the latest being Kisumu County which is planning to hire 210 nurses in the next six days on a three-month contract.

The nurses, according to the Kisumu deputy governor, will be stationed at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital and at Kisumu County Hospital.

Other counties that have advertised nurses' positions include Lamu, Kirinyaga, Muranga and Lamu Counties.

Nurses are now calling on governors to sign the CBA with nurses in their counties, adding that national government was threatening their efforts to have them back at work.

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