According to medical professionals, the number of Kenyan nurses is short of 45,000 qualified nurses to help in the medical field.
The chairman of Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) Philip Kaloki has clarified this information. He also revealed that due to the shortage, KMTC is planning to admit more student nurses and increase the number of KMTC colleges in the counties. He also said the management is set to assess the status of the KMTC colleges in all the counties.
At the same time, KMTC targets to expand the training facilities so that they can have enough space for as many students as possible.
Kaloki said that the expansion will also see the number of staff being increased especially in hardship places like Lodwar.
‘’We are working hard to upgrade the KMTC teaching facilities and expanding others to cater for more students to help us beat the scarcity of nurses in Kenya since we are short of 45,000 nurses,’’ he said.
To achieve this, the college plans to admit 900 students and above. This is up from the 400 students it usually admits yearly.
Kibera students who have passion in taking the nursing course on Sunday said they were happy that the admission numbers will be doubled making it easier for them to get a chance to pursue their dream.