Standing over six feet tall, Elijah Mwangi’s skills and education have earned him the post of an Assistant Chief Nurse at the Kenyatta National Hospital. He also doubles as a Course Manager for Critical Care Training at the hospital’s School of Nursing. He coordinates the coursework while also teaching Critical Care, Nursing, Emergencies and Research. As a young boy Elijah had three career aspirations: priest, scientist and statistician. Later on, a series of events caused him to reconsider his options – his cousin’s death scarred him but also inspired him to pursue nursing: “We were watching TV together, and she just collapsed. I had to carry her on my back to the health centre, which was quite a distance away. She died on the way. That changed everything for me.”
On completing high school, Elijah joined Kenya Medical Training College in Nyeri for a Diploma in Nursing and then Kenyatta National Hospital for a Higher Diploma in Critical Care. In 2009, 20 years after he landed his first job, Elijah decided to enrol at AKU-SONAM for a BScN.
“I was especially impressed by the Research and Biostatistics units. Community Health, Research Methodology and the Pathophysiology coursework was also really interesting. That I could go to school for two days in a week and still be able to work was great. The curriculum was covered at the right pace.” The coursework at AKU-SONAM equipped Elijah with skills in management of nursing units – skills that came in handy as he rose through the ranks at work.
“The training really caused a shift in my life. Working with patients in critical condition at the ICU and seeing them recover fully was quite inspiring. It was also a refresher on a couple of things we sometimes overlook after having worked for a long time.”
The Aga Khan University often partners with different organizations to ease students’ financial burdens and help ensure uninterrupted class attendance.
“I got a scholarship from Johnson & Johnson through AKU. That was unforgettable.”
On the intensity of his coursework, Elijah shares, “In preparation for the four-month elective programs, we were taken through generating evidence and implementation of solutions. AKU’s strict policy on deadlines and proper research papers nurtured the skills I needed to later complete my master’s degree in medical statistics at the University of Nairobi in record time.”
Elijah is one of several AKU-SONAM alumni staff at the Kenyatta National Hospital School of Nursing. He is adamant that they work well together because of the proper foundation they received at AKU-SONAM, which maintains a vibrant relationship with its alumni, “I have had the opportunity to supervise and mentor university students. I am currently in the final year of my PhD. As an alumnus, I have been granted full access to the library. I can’t begin to say how much that has bolstered my research.”
While Elijah would have wished to do his master’s and PhD at AKU-SONAM, he hopes that it is only a matter of time before the University expands its course offering, “Very few institutions are training on specialties, that is, Critical Care, Nephrology, Oncology and others. Specialized training gives the nurse extra confidence to handle the special ailments and contain situations during emergencies. I believe AKU can teach these courses to international standards.”
Elijah is hopeful about the future of nursing in the country: “My dream is to see all the counties in Kenya well-equipped with both machinery and qualified personnel to whom the patient’s health is a priority.”
Nurses and Midwives - Leaders in Healthcare in East Africa story series reflect the depth and diversity of the nursing and midwifery profession in East Africa. Download a copy of the coffee book for free here
Finding, capturing and documenting these stories was a collective effort of many individuals and institutions. At the very beginning were the investments made by the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust, the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW), the Lund Family and Rotary International that brought the nursing and midwifery training programme to life.
These partners provided scholarships, support for programme development and faculty investments that were pivotal in enabling the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery (AKU-SONAM) to recruit a diverse set of students and build innovative, pragmatic academic programmes
We hope that these stories will continue to inspire, challenge and show the power of nurses and midwives for years to come.