Kate Dahlman

Missionary Nurse Educator (BSN, MS) with Africa Inland Mission, Kenya, Africa 1992-2017

Increasing Educational Levels of Local Professionals: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugali

  • Breakout Session
  • Main Building ED 280
  • November 8 2018 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
  • N

Nursing education in Kenya has changed significantly over the past 20 years. As directed by the Nursing Council of Kenya, there are currently two primary tracks (diploma and BScN) for educational training being promoted; the older, traditional two-year course is being phased out. Emphasis is also on promoting the educational level of nurse educators by encouraging Master's and Doctoral degrees. The heavy emphasis on more training comes with its own set of challenges as the typical curricula tends to be "overstuffed". The challenge for expatriate nurse educators is to learn how to work within the system, accepting things that cannot be changed and negotiating or modifying the context as they are able to bring a higher level of professionalism and expertise to students and nurse educators alike. From a Christian missionary nurse perspective, an emphasis on a Biblical model for nursing and Christian Bioethics is a key foundational concept underlying the core curriculum.

Objectives

1. Describe the progression of nursing education from its inception in the early 1920s to current 2018 standards in Kenya, Africa.
2. Discuss pros and cons of the current educational nursing system in Kenya from an expatriate point of view.
3. Identify unique challenges that missionary nurse educators face when moving to divergent cultural settings.
4. Describe how missionary nurse educators impacted one school of nursing's changing curricula using Leininger's "Culture Care Theory" as a guide.
5. Discuss the foundational role of Christian Bioethics in formulating nursing curricula for Christian educational institutions in receiving regions.