Challenges of technological trends in nursing and coping strategies by nurses at Kenyatta National Hospital

Background: Technology in nursing has been shown to reduce redundancy and improve efficiency of work. Information Communication and technology (ICT) incorporation in nursing at Kenyatta national Hospital (KNH) has been ongoing for some years yet the uptake seemingly is slow. Challenges that could be associated with the slow incorporation of technology into nursing practice have not been studied.Objective: To identifying the challenges faced by nurses as a result of technology trends in nursing practice and to establish ways in which nurses are coping with the challenges.Design: Cross-sectional descriptiveSetting: Kenyatta National HospitalParticipants: Nurses in medical and surgical wards.Interventions: Simple random sampling was used to select 91 participants after applying fishers’ formula. Purposive sampling was used to select 5 nurse managers as key informants. Data on challenges of technological trends in nursing and coping strategies by nurses was collected using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to determine Association between challenges faced and Electronic health records (EHR) usage levels, also between technological skills and challenges faced at confidence level of 95% at a p-value of 0.05.Results: Majority of the nurses (62.6%, n = 57) reported experiencing challenges related to technology developments in their departments. The study established that less technological skills among nurses led to more challenges experienced with technology (Chi= 7.2, DF=1, P=0.007). The study also found that reports on more challenges experienced was significantly related to decreased level of use of EHR (Chi= 16.8, DF=3, P=0.001) and (Chi=11.8, DF=3, P=0.008).Conclusion: Nurses are facing many challenges as a result of technological trends in nursing. Special attention should be paid towards tackling the challenges by including comprehensive training on technological skills and formulating policies on proper handling of the challenges to enhance integration of ICT in nursing

Challenges of technological trends in nursing and coping strategies by nurses at Kenyatta National Hospital

Background: Technology in nursing has been shown to reduce redundancy and improve efficiency of work. Information Communication and technology (ICT) incorporation in nursing at Kenyatta national Hospital (KNH) has been ongoing for some years yet the uptake seemingly is slow. Challenges that could be associated with the slow incorporation of technology into nursing practice have not been studied.Objective: To identify the challenges faced by nurses as a result of technology trends in nursing practice and to establish ways in which nurses are coping with the challenges.Design: Cross-sectional descriptiveSetting: Kenyatta National HospitalSubjects: Nurses in medical and surgical wards.Interventions: Simple random sampling was used to select 91 participants after applying fishers’ formula. Purposive sampling was used to select five nurse managers as key informants. Data on challenges of technological trends in nursing and coping strategies by nurses was collected using a pre-tested semistructured questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to determine Association between challenges faced and Electronic health records (EHR) usage levels, also between technological skills and challenges faced at confidence level of 95% at a p-value of 0.05.Results: Majority of the nurses (62.6%, n = 57) reported experiencing challenges related to technology developments in their departments. The study established that less technological skills among nurses led to more challenges experienced with technology(Chi= 7.2, DF=1, P=0.007). The study also found that reports on more challenges experienced was significantly related to decreased level of use of EHR(Chi= 16.8, DF=3, P=0.001) and(Chi=11.8, DF=3, P=0.008).Conclusion: Nurses are facing many challenges as a result of technological trends in nursing. Special attention should be paid towards tackling the challenges by including comprehensive training on technological skills and formulating policies on proper handling of the challenges to enhance integration of ICT in nursing

Risk-rated economic values for production and functional traits of Small East African goat using profit functions

The study reports the effect of incorporating risk in the derivation of economic values for traits of the breeding goal of Small East African goats under the pastoral production system. A model previously used to derive conventional economic values was revised to incorporate variances of profit and risk attitudes of livestock keepers in estimation of risk-rated economic values. This resulted in a decrease in the estimated economic values by -14.7% (milk yield), -2.7% (12-month live weight), -23.9% (consumable meat percentage), -6.6% (mature doe live weight), -98% (mature buck live weight), -8.6% (kidding frequency), -8.2% (pre-weaning survival rate), -8.9% (post-weaning survival rate), -8.1% (doe survival rate) and 0% (residual feed intake). The decrease in the conomic values implied that livestock keepers who were risk averse were willing to accept lower expected returns to void the opportunity of unfavourable outcomes

Institutional and organizational frameworks for dairy and beef cattle recording in Kenya: a review and opportunities for improvement

To facilitate livestock improvement in developing countries, records on animal populations and their various productivity levels are important. However, in these countries, livestock recording presents a huge challenge. This paper presents an outline of the historical developments and the current scenario in dairy and beef recording in Kenya, where a recording scheme has been in place since 1963, yet the productive potential of most animals in the country remains unknown. The paper brings into context the state of recording in relation to the potential for future developments in dairy and beef production within the country. Despite the enormous existing potential, low numbers of livestock records are captured due to multiple challenges, which include limited funding, lack of incentives to record, limited feedback on records, a fragmented organizational structure, poor infrastructure, limited numbers of skilled personnel and lack of supporting policies. Strategies to overcome the challenges and achieve more sustainable utilization of the existing livestock populations are discussed. Linking recording to key service providers within the livestock production sector could enhance data collection, processing and feedback to livestock producers. The quality of extension services provided must be improved in order to holistically support livestock production. Recent international regulations on the traceability of livestock products sold within different countries mean that unless Kenya implements a robust animal recording programme, the country will be locked out of markets for its livestock products

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Optimum crossbreeding systems for goats in low-input livestock production system in Kenya

The aim of the current simulation study was to maximise the amount (kg) of high value meat arising from surplus males and females per kilogram of the goat population and, maximise weight gains to turnoff age. Subsequently, the study aimed to decrease turnoff age, maximisation of reproduction rates and minimisation of the mature weight of does in the low-input livestock production system in Kenya. Three crossbreeding systems and a synthetic breed development were evaluated, namely; (a) straight breeding system that utilised pure Small East African goat (SEAG) where parental lines were maintained to generate the desired terminal crosses, (b) three-breed crossbreeding system that utilised SEAG as pure breed, Galla goat (GG) as the first cross sire breed, and Improved Boer goat (IBG) as the terminal sire, (c) two-breed rotational crossbreeding system where the SEAG and IBG were purebreds, and (d) synthetic breed development system utilising SEAG X IBG. The HotCross crossbreeding simulation software was used to assess the predicted performance of the different goat breed crosses under conditions of agro ecological zones (AEZ) V and VI. A model was developed to compare these crossbreeding systems, and showed the optimum numbers required in each stage of a cross to maximise production. In the AEZ V, it was found that the three breed terminal system gave 18.2 kg (76%) improvement over straightbreds per doe mated per year. The multi-breed composite realised 20.4 kg (86%) improvement over pure SEAG. In the AEZ VI, it was found that the three breed terminal system gave 10 kg (64%) improvement over straightbreds per doe mated per year. The multi-breed composite realised 14.6 kg (94%) improvement straightbreds per doe mated per year. The two breed rotation was worse than the multi-breed composite in both environments. This implies that in low-input livestock production system, a multi-breed composite may be the crossbreeding system of choice, so long as supportive infrastructure is put in place