Job Satisfaction Among the Nurses of Makueni District Hospital, Kenya

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the level of job satisfaction among the nurses of Makueni District Hospital. This was necessitated by the high nurse staff turnover from the facility and a myriad of complains from various departments. The study was a cross sectional descriptive survey involving about 50 nurses that was carried out between 15 and 19th July 2013. The study employed mixed method approach. Tests of significance were through use of Chi-square, Fishers exact test and logistic regression. The key results were that overall job satisfaction was low (36%). There were significant relationships between job satisfaction and cordial relationship with the nurse manager (c2 12.131 df 4 p=0.016<0.05. Logistic regression p=0.018<0.05). The plans to quit the hospital and work elsewhere indicates a relationship with job satisfaction (c2 12.749 df 4 p=0.013<0.05). The findings of this study suggest that there is no enabling working environment for the nurses and this could be a barrier to service delivery in the Hospital. These findings suggest that the Nurse Managers should build up effective relationship with the staff and other departments and should identify negative working conditions which affect staff and appropriately delegate authority to them

Socio-Cultural Factors Influencing Uptake of Skilled Childbirth Services Among Women in Kaiti Division, Makueni District (Kenya)

Each year, over 500,000 women die from the complications of pregnancy and child birth, almost all of them in the developing countries. This trend can be addressed by increasing the rates of skilled care during childbirth. This study therefore sought to establish the socio-cultural factors influencing uptake of skilled childbirth care which has remained low in Kaiti Division. The researchers applied a descriptive cross-sectional study design which involved women of childbearing age (15-49 years). The study was conducted in March 2010 and had a sample size of 246 women which was randomly selected from the estimated target population of 12,077. The researchers applied both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The tests of significance employed included Fisher's exact test, chi-square, test and logistic regression. The study established that the proportion of women attended to by the skilled attendant within various age cohorts was higher (58.9%) amongst the youth/adolescent (15-24 years) (P-value = 0.091> 0.05, c2 10.915 df 6).). Skilled attendance declined among the grand-multiparas (para4 and above) from 7.7% in Para 4-5 to 2% in Para 6+ (P-value = .000<0.05, c2 34.888 df 3; Para 1(p =0.000, OR 28.391), Para 2-3 (p =0.000, OR 7.564), Para 4-5(p=0.030, OR 3.493) Further findings indicated that the principal decision maker (46.7%) on type of assistant in the last delivery was the woman (P-value = 0.000 <0.05, c2 56.076 df 5). However, the husband was the leading (39.5%) decision maker in use of a skilled assistant in the last delivery (p=0.000, OR 15.667). More than two thirds (70.7%) of the respondents who performed a ceremony prayed for safe delivery in their last delivery. The study concluded that women's parity, decision making and religion were significant in use of skilled childbirth services

Inactivation of murine norovirus by chemical biocides on stainless steel

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human norovirus (NoV) causes more than 80% of nonbacterial gastroenteritis in Europe and the United States. NoV transmission via contaminated surfaces may be significant for the spread of viruses. Therefore, measures for prevention and control, such as surface disinfection, are necessary to interrupt the dissemination of human NoV. Murine norovirus (MNV) as a surrogate for human NoV was used to study the efficacy of active ingredients of chemical disinfectants for virus inactivation on inanimate surfaces.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The inactivating properties of different chemical biocides were tested in a quantitative carrier test with stainless steel discs without mechanical action. Vacuum-dried MNV was exposed to different concentrations of alcohols, peracetic acid (PAA) or glutaraldehyde (GDA) for 5 minutes exposure time. Detection of residual virus was determined by endpoint-titration on RAW 264.7 cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PAA [1000 ppm], GDA [2500 ppm], ethanol [50% (v/v)] and 1-propanol [30% (v/v)] were able to inactivate MNV under clean conditions (0.03% BSA) on the carriers by ≥ 4 log₁₀within 5 minutes exposure time, whereas 2-propanol showed a reduced effectiveness even at 60% (v/v). Furthermore, there were no significant differences in virus reduction whatever interfering substances were used. When testing with ethanol, 1- and 2-propanol, results under clean conditions were nearly the same as in the presence of dirty conditions (0.3% BSA plus 0.3% erythrocytes).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Products based upon PAA, GDA, ethanol and 1-propanol should be used for NoV inactivation on inanimate surfaces. Our data provide valuable information for the development of strategies to control NoV transmission via surfaces.</p

How long do nosocomial pathogens persist on inanimate surfaces? A systematic review

BACKGROUND: Inanimate surfaces have often been described as the source for outbreaks of nosocomial infections. The aim of this review is to summarize data on the persistence of different nosocomial pathogens on inanimate surfaces. METHODS: The literature was systematically reviewed in MedLine without language restrictions. In addition, cited articles in a report were assessed and standard textbooks on the topic were reviewed. All reports with experimental evidence on the duration of persistence of a nosocomial pathogen on any type of surface were included. RESULTS: Most gram-positive bacteria, such as Enterococcus spp. (including VRE), Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA), or Streptococcus pyogenes, survive for months on dry surfaces. Many gram-negative species, such as Acinetobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, or Shigella spp., can also survive for months. A few others, such as Bordetella pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae, Proteus vulgaris, or Vibrio cholerae, however, persist only for days. Mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and spore-forming bacteria, including Clostridium difficile, can also survive for months on surfaces. Candida albicans as the most important nosocomial fungal pathogen can survive up to 4 months on surfaces. Persistence of other yeasts, such as Torulopsis glabrata, was described to be similar (5 months) or shorter (Candida parapsilosis, 14 days). Most viruses from the respiratory tract, such as corona, coxsackie, influenza, SARS or rhino virus, can persist on surfaces for a few days. Viruses from the gastrointestinal tract, such as astrovirus, HAV, polio- or rota virus, persist for approximately 2 months. Blood-borne viruses, such as HBV or HIV, can persist for more than one week. Herpes viruses, such as CMV or HSV type 1 and 2, have been shown to persist from only a few hours up to 7 days. CONCLUSION: The most common nosocomial pathogens may well survive or persist on surfaces for months and can thereby be a continuous source of transmission if no regular preventive surface disinfection is performed

Management Effectiveness of the World's Marine Fisheries

A global analysis shows that fishery management worldwide is lagging far behind international standards, and that the conversion of scientific advice into policy, through a participatory and transparent process, holds promise for achieving sustainable fisheries

Developing Global Maps of the Dominant Anopheles Vectors of Human Malaria

Simon Hay and colleagues describe how the Malaria Atlas Project has collated anopheline occurrence data to map the geographic distributions of the dominant mosquito vectors of human malaria

Landscape dynamics (landDX) an open-access spatial-temporal database for the Kenya-Tanzania borderlands

The savannas of the Kenya-Tanzania borderland cover >100,000 km2 and is one of the most important regions globally for biodiversity conservation, particularly large mammals. The region also supports >1 million pastoralists and their livestock. In these systems, resources for both large mammals and pastoralists are highly variable in space and time and thus require connected landscapes. However, ongoing fragmentation of (semi-)natural vegetation by smallholder fencing and expansion of agriculture threatens this social-ecological system. Spatial data on fences and agricultural expansion are localized and dispersed among data owners and databases. Here, we synthesized data from several research groups and conservation NGOs and present the first release of the Landscape Dynamics (landDX) spatial-temporal database, covering ~30,000 km2 of southern Kenya. The data includes 31,000 livestock enclosures, nearly 40,000 kilometres of fencing, and 1,500 km2 of agricultural land. We provide caveats and interpretation of the different methodologies used. These data are useful to answer fundamental ecological questions, to quantify the rate of change of ecosystem function and wildlife populations, for conservation and livestock management, and for local and governmental spatial planning.The South Rift Association of Land Owners (specifically grants from the European Union and the Lion Recovery Fund), BigLife Foundation, Esri Conservation Program, Mara Elephant Project, Microsoft AI4Earth programme, the Carlsberg Foundation Semper Ardens project MegaPast2Future, and the VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN, the European Research Council (ERC) project ANTHEA.http://www.nature.com/scientificdataam2023Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog