Sister Jackline Mayaka
MSN, BSN, PhD candidate, M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing • Villanova University, Nyanza Region, KenyaFollowing Sister Jackline Mayaka’s graduation from Nairobi Hospital Cecily McDonnell School of Nursing, she was assigned to work at Asumbi Health Center in Homabay County, Nyanza region of Western Kenya.
Sister Jackline found herself in a very low-resource health center that was run by nursing assistants. The assistants performed many tasks typically managed by a professional nurse including prescribing medications and managing deliveries of laboring mothers.
As a new nurse, her introduction to nursing practice was done by experienced nursing assistants who were not educated in professional nursing practice.
Sister Jackline reported that God answered her prayers in the form of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)- AIDsRelief program.
She found herself working with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on the AIDsRelief program providing care at faith-based facilities.
Sister Jackline soon was named the nurse coordinator, which involved visiting all the faith-based facilities within the Catholic diocese of Homabay in Western Kenya.
The program supported and funded various healthcare providers especially nurses and clinical officers who provided extensive HIV testing and counseling within the community.
This experience made Sister Jackline aware of the importance of experienced senior nurses to support new nurses’ transition into practice. This is especially important because there is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS with accompanied high mortality rates in the region and nurses are the majority of the providers who attend to patients.
The need for nurse mentoring remained evident in this region. It was not unusual to find nurse assistants running primary care facilities for weeks while the only nurse for the facility was busy with meetings and workshops or gathering supplies such as vaccines from the district hospitals. This left patients without the care of a professional nurse. Sister Jackline understood that by supporting nurses’ transition from new graduate to professional nurse there could be improved patient outcomes.
Sister Jackline’s drive to make nursing care effective for Kenya’s most vulnerable patients led her to earn a bachelors, and master’s degree in nursing from Villanova University.
She is currently a PhD student at Villanova researching the impact on HIV on infants born to HIV positive mothers in Kenya.
She plans to return to Kenya by the summer 2020 where she will use her education to train senior nurses in mentoring new nurses as they transition into professional nursing practice.
Sister Jackline embodies a nurse with global impact.
– Deb
Following Sister Jackline Mayaka’s graduation from Nairobi Hospital Cecily McDonnell School of Nursing, she was assigned to work at Asumbi Health Center in Homabay County, Nyanza region of Western Kenya.
Sister Jackline found herself in a very low-resource health center that was run by nursing assistants. The assistants performed many tasks typically managed by a professional nurse including prescribing medications and managing deliveries of laboring mothers.
As a new nurse, her introduction to nursing practice was done by experienced nursing assistants who were not educated in professional nursing practice.
Sister Jackline reported that God answered her prayers in the form of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)- AIDsRelief program.
She found herself working with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) on the AIDsRelief program providing care at faith-based facilities.
Sister Jackline soon was named the nurse coordinator, which involved visiting all the faith-based facilities within the Catholic diocese of Homabay in Western Kenya.
The program supported and funded various healthcare providers especially nurses and clinical officers who provided extensive HIV testing and counseling within the community.
This experience made Sister Jackline aware of the importance of experienced senior nurses to support new nurses’ transition into practice. This is especially important because there is a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS with accompanied high mortality rates in the region and nurses are the majority of the providers who attend to patients.
The need for nurse mentoring remained evident in this region. It was not unusual to find nurse assistants running primary care facilities for weeks while the only nurse for the facility was busy with meetings and workshops or gathering supplies such as vaccines from the district hospitals. This left patients without the care of a professional nurse. Sister Jackline understood that by supporting nurses’ transition from new graduate to professional nurse there could be improved patient outcomes.
Sister Jackline’s drive to make nursing care effective for Kenya’s most vulnerable patients led her to earn a bachelors, and master’s degree in nursing from Villanova University.
She is currently a PhD student at Villanova researching the impact on HIV on infants born to HIV positive mothers in Kenya.
She plans to return to Kenya by the summer 2020 where she will use her education to train senior nurses in mentoring new nurses as they transition into professional nursing practice.
Sister Jackline embodies a nurse with global impact.
– Deb
