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Motivated in Service​ ​Yasintha Kamaleki, Head of Nursing and Midwifery Services TMJ Hospital, Tanzania

“I was an Assistant Matron during my BScN training at the Aga Khan University, but after I graduated in 2015 I was promoted to Head of Nursing and Midwifery Services. The management knew I could handle more duties,” Yasintha Kamaleki shares excitedly.

As Head of Nursing and Midwifery Services at TMJ, Yasintha supervises all the nursing activities in the hospital. “I go around the whole hospital from out- and in-patient, to the dialysis departments. I make sure that everything is going well in all three departments and that patients are satisfied. There are 68 nurses in the hospital, which has a bed capacity of 54. I’m also part of the quality improvement team and checking the nurses’ rosters. The heads in the different departments report to me, and if they have any case of misconduct or complaints from patients, we resolve it together,” she says.

One of the biggest challenges Yasintha encounters in her job is a high turnover of nursing staff. “We’re a private hospital, and some of the nurses we employ leave as soon as they get government employment. This creates gaps, and we have to keep trying to fill them. When we have new nurses, we have to start the work of training them all over again. I find that most nurses are not competent, and we have to train them ourselves, which makes it hard when they leave after we’ve invested so much in them. I discussed the problem with the management, and we’ve raised starting salaries to motivate nurses to stay.”

Yasintha was motivated to join the nursing profession because her mother was a nurse. “I looked up to her. I used to admire how she was dedicated to helping the sick, and how impressive she looked in her uniform. After high school, I knew that going to nursing school was the path for me. I have never regretted that decision. Helping others brings me joy and gives me a reason to wake up every day,” says Yasintha.

She believes that without her AKU-SONAM training, her career wouldn’t be where it is today. “Before joining the Aga Khan University, I didn’t even have competent computer skills. But now I can operate any computer,” Yasintha says with a laugh. “The leadership and management skills I learnt also help me a lot in my position. I gained confidence in myself and my skills, and unlike before, I can stand in front of any number of people for a presentation. Instead of nurses going to the matron or director whenever they had a challenge, I initiated a step-by-step process where they could try to solve the issue among themselves and with the heads of their department first. I also requested that the nurses be provided with badges and uniforms by the hospital.”

Although she was prepared to pay out of pocket, she was delighted when she got a scholarship courtesy of Rotary Club, which covered most of her tuition fees.

aving worked with nurses from other colleges, Yasintha says that the AKU-SONAM training is superior. “Nurses trained by the Aga Khan University are more knowledgeable and skilled. They also have the confidence to join discussions and make decisions regarding the patient’s welfare.”

Yasintha plans to pursue a master’s degree soon, after which she will eventually set up her own health facility to continue serving the people of Tanzania. “Providing employment for others will be very fulfilling to me. The autonomy of having my own facility will also allow me to implement the better measures,” she concludes.

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. 

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.

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