Adherence of healthcare practitioners to the adolescent reproductive health and development policy at The Garissa Provincial General Hospital, Kenya

Background: Kenya’s policies relating to population, family planning (FP) and reproductive health (RH) receive weak/fluctuating levels of adherence. The Adolescent Reproductive Health and Development  (ARH&D) policy gives directives and actions to follow in meeting identified ends and goals in the  reproductive and developmental needs of the youth- majority of Kenya’s population (Ministry of  Health-Youth Friendly Services (MOH-YFS), National Coordination Agency for Population and Development(NCAPD), 2011).Objective: To evaluate adherence of healthcare practitioners (HCPs) to the Adolescent Reproductive Health and Development (ARH&D) policy at the Garissa Provincial General Hospital, Kenya (GPGH).Design: A cross sectional study.Setting: Garissa Provincial General Hospital, Kenya.Subjects: Comprised of 172 Healthcare practitioners (HCPs), including 88 nurses, 14 doctors and 17  clinical officers (COs) and 53 adolescent clients.Results: The HCP policy utilisation rate of the ARH&D which was 62.2% was influenced by religious  affiliation, age, frequency of supervision. Adolescent client satisfaction level was about 34%. Severity of infibulations has reduced in severity among the Somali people. Consanguineous marriages of under-age girls, drug addiction, poverty, HIV and AIDS and FP stigmatisation are still high in North Eastern Province.Conclusion: Adherence to the ARH&D policy was about 62% at the GPGH. There was no ideal set up for YFS. The adolescent satisfaction low was at about 34%. Infibulation has reduced. There were  shortcomings with the HCP characteristics, facility deficits, and service management hurdles

Injection safety knowledge and practices among clinical health care workers in Garissa provincial general hospital

Background: The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 16 billion injections are administered in developing countries annually. Injection safety is therefore critical in preventing occupational exposure and infection from blood borne pathogens, hence prevention is a vital part of any comprehensive plan for protecting health workers, patients and maintaining a safe environment.Objective: To determine the knowledge and practice of injection safety among clinical healthcare workers at the Garissa Provincial General Hospital.Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study.Setting: The Garissa provincial General Hospital from September 2011 to July 2012.Results: Injection safety knowledge was high with a score of 12.65 (SD ± 2.3) out of the total of 16 items. Appropriate injection safety practices were reported by most of the respondents. The level of knowledge was not significantly associated with respondents’ demographic characteristics(p>0.05), but was significantly associated with hand washing practice(p<0.05).Inferences were made on an appropriate injection safety practices like non-recapping of needles, hand washing and proper waste management. Drug administration practice varied in the different departments (p=0.043) and recapping of needles was significantly associated with training (p=0.047), designation (p=0.02) and area of deployment (p=0.017).Conclusion: Knowledge on injection safety was high but reported and observed practices were below the set standard. Risky practices such as recapping used syringes, re-use of disposable syringes and overfilling of sharp boxes were observed. There was insufficient provision of injection safety equipment, Poor waste handling and inadequate personal protective gear. Over prescription of unnecessary injections was widespread