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

Innovation in rural development

The role of agriculture in rural development has recently been overshadowed by discussions about the role of rural industries, small scale business enterprises, growth pole strategies and diversification of other non farm income generating activities. This paper re-analyses and attempts to establish the need for policies and programmes to accelerate agricultural technological development. The study reviews the role of government research stations, extension services, mass media channels and training programmes in accelerating technological change whose advantages within a Kenya rural development context are laid out in the first section of the paper. One the problems highlighted by this study is the fact that there is no adequate or relevant technology or the means to transfer any such technology to the small farmer and also those living in the medium and marginal farming regions of Kenya

Understanding the structure of data when planning for analysis: application of Hierachical Linear Models

Human beings and other living creatures tend to exist within organisational structures, such as families, schools, and business organisations. In an educational system, for example, students exist within a hierarchical social structure that can include classroom, grade level, school, school district and country. Data obtained from such social structures are hierarchical. It is critical that social scientists understand the structure of the data because it dictates the statistical techniques to be used for analysis and interpretation. For example, analysing hierarchical data using the conventional General Linear Models (GLMs) may result in inaccurate inferences being drawn from the data. A thorough understanding of the data in terms of structure, type of variables and relationships being investigated needs no further emphasis. Statistically valid inferences are drawn from data that have been carefully collected and subjected to the appropriate statistical techniques. Attention should also be paid to the underlying assumptions of a particular statistical technique. Use of Hierarchical Linear Models (HLMs) in analysing social research has several advantages. The problem of unit of analysis is avoided and data are no longer aggregated or disaggregated resulting in accurate and reliable estimation of each level effects. Furthermore, all estimated effects are adjusted for individual level and group level influence on the outcome variable. The only drawback of applying HLMs is that this requires an advanced level of sophistication in statistics. South African Journal of Education Vol.23(4) 2003: 249-25

Design and Evaluation of a Propulsion System for Small, Compact, Low-Speed Maneuvering Underwater Vehicles

Underwater vehicles used to perform precision inspection and non-destructive evaluation in tightly constrained or delicate underwater environments must be small, have low-speed maneuverability and a smooth streamlined outer shape with no appendages. In this thesis, the design and analysis of a new propulsion system for such underwater vehicles is presented. It consists primarily of a syringe and a plunger driven by a linear actuator and uses different inflow and outflow nozzles to provide continuous propulsive force. A prototype of the proposed propulsion mechanism is built and tested. The practical utility and potential efficacy of the system is demonstrated and assessed via direct thrust measurement experiments and by use of an initial proof-of-concept test vehicle. Experiments are performed to enable the evaluation and modelling of the thrust output of the mechanism as well as the speed capability of a vehicle employing the propulsion system

Does COMESA Have Export Potential to Emerging Economies?

By the virtue of their size, Emerging Market Economies (EMEs) present trade opportunities for both developed and developing countries. To benefit from such opportunities, countries need to identify the areas where they have comparative advantage. This paper analyses the export potential of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member countries to selected emerging market economies (EMEs) including Brazil, Russia, India, China, Turkey, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), South Africa and Nigeria. The aim is to investigate if COMESA member countries are competitive in the EMEs and identify the specific products which the region has a revealed comparative advantage (RCA) in specific EME market. Using RCA method, the study finds that COMESA countries have RCA in at least 200 products (about 4 percent) of the total 5,134 products they export to the selected emerging markets. Export of these products also account for a small market share in the emerging markets. COMESA countries therefore have a large export potential in these markets which remains unexploited. Export potential is larger in Russia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and UAE, respectively. Textiles and textile products, mineral products, base metal and articles of base metal, live animals and vegetable products have the largest export potential in EMEs. Keywords: COMESA, emerging market economies (EMEs), RCA and export potential DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-10-07 Publication date:May 31st 202

Localizing youth volunteer developmental service in Kenya

The report is based on interviews with Kenya National Youth Servicemen and Officers, Kenya Voluntary Development Association Volunteers and officials and representatives of International Student Movement for the United Nations (ISWTJN) from Sweden, Ghana, Nigeria, Tunisia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Libya. The central issue in this report is the question of the relevancy of the conventional youth programmes in Kenya and the question as to the degree of alien imported values, goals and aspirations being imparted to Kenya Youth by the International Voluntary Services (e.g. VSO, Peace Corps etc.) and the Kenyan foreign financed Voluntary Organisations. The study shows that Kenyan youth programmes are not consistently evaluated against our developmental realities or aspirations and suggests that a massive re-orientation for most of our vouth organisations is long over-due. This, it is suggested, could be done through dynamic leadership training and incentives system to attract local leaders, the development of a national level youth policy from which each youth organisation will derive its programmes and a re-orientation of youth activities to projects which make useful contribution to our developmental programmes, especially in the rural areas

El significado del personaje de Safie en Frankestein, de Mary Shelley, para los lectores del siglo XXI

This paper presents a critical look at one of the characters in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Safie, through the lenses of a female African scholar in the twenty-first century. A close look at the narrative structure leads to the gradual peeling off of the first two layers, to the core of the narration. The paper looks keenly at a minor character in this core, in the light of feminist literary criticism and against the concept of globalisation. The analysis of the character of Safie, carried out in full consciousness of the fact that Frankenstein was written two hundred years ago, involves a look at the words used to describe her; comparison between her and other characters, particularly other female characters; as well as a general overview of her circumstances and how she reacts in response to them.Este artículo estudia críticamente a Safie, uno de los personajes de Frankestein de Mary Shelley, desde la perspectiva de una investigadora africana. Un examen atento de la estructura narrativa de la novela permite despojarla de sus dos capas exteriores, para alcanzar el núcleo de la narración. Este trabajo examina un personaje secundario de este núcleo a la luz de la crítica literaria feminista y en contra del concepto de globalización. El análisis del personaje de Safie, realizado con plena conciencia del hecho de que Frankestein fue escrito hace doscientos años, exige el examen de los términos usados para describirla; la comparación entre ella y otros personajes, especialmente otros personajes femeninos; así como una contextualización de sus circunstancias y de cómo Safie reacciona ante ellas