Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Reprieve for deaf patients as nurses training launched - News |nation.co.ke
A 28-year-old expectant woman in her final trimester experiences a gush of pain in her belly.
Her brother hires a taxi and takes her to the nearest health centre.
At the hospital she gets frustrated as she tries to explain to the staff the nature of the pain in her abdomen.
Doctors and nurses are tongue-tied, literally, and admit her on assumption that labour contractions have began.
In the maternity ward, she reaches out to one of the nurses on duty and gestures at her stomach.
The attending nurse cannot interpret the signal. The young mother signals again. This mother-to-be is deaf and illiterate.
Ms Fatuma Ngoto, a nurse at Coast General Hospital, vividly remembers the events of this day five years ago while on duty at the maternity wing.
“The devastation in her eyes as I tried to decode the message is something I will never forget,” Ms Ngoto explains.
Abdominal pains
However, one of the support staff at the hospital was conversant in basic Kenyan Sign Language and came to her rescue.
“Through the interpreter she explained that she was experiencing sharp abdominal pains and the baby had not kicked that day,” Ms Ngoto says.
With this information the nurse called the doctor in charge and the expectant woman was booked into theatre where she underwent a successful Caesarean section.
“Today the child is healthy and attending kindergarten but I developed a desire to learn Kenyan Sign Language (KSL),” she says.
Sign language uses a system of manual, facial, and other body movements as the means of communication, especially among deaf people.
Ms Ngoto’s dilemma is replayed in most hospitals as the deaf seek health services.
Despite health being a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, communication barrier is rife.
Article 43 (a) of the Constitution under the Bill of Rights guarantees every person the highest attainable standard of health.
However, the situation is bound to improve if a plan to train nurses in basic sign language by the Department of Nursing under collaborative efforts of the ministries of Medical Services and Public Health takes off successfully.
Ms Ngoto is one of the health workers currently enrolled for the pilot training programme to improve health worker-patient relationship.
Currently, 21 nurses — nominated by the Department of Nursing — are learning the skill at the Kenyan Sign Language Research Project (KSLRP) at the University of Nairobi for one year.
In an interview with the Nation, chief nursing officer Chris Rakuom notes that the communication hurdle has denied deaf persons a chance to seek services in the country’s hospitals.
“Nurses play a crucial role in health education and are in contact with patients most of the time thus the need to train them in the Kenyan Sign Language skills,” Mr Rakuom explains.
He adds: “Lack of awareness of existence of these services among health care providers sometimes results in involvement of family members in consultation, which raises ethical concerns at different levels for example violation of patient rights or poor interpreting services from unqualified family members.”
When the Nation visited the KSL classes at the University of Nairobi lecture halls, the nurses were optimistic that the skills acquired would bridge the gap in provision of health services.
The nurses are drawn from Nakuru, Kakamega, Embu, Coast, Machakos and Nyeri provincial hospitals while others are from Kiambu, Siaya and Webuye district hospitals.
The training is sponsored by the National Council for Persons with Disability.
Vital skills
Ms Violet Kanusu, a mental health nurse at Webuye District Hospital, says the skills will help her handle her patients, four of whom are deaf.
“Prior to the training, waving was the only sign I knew and I relied heavily on writing on a piece of paper to communicate with the patients,” Ms Kwanusu says.
Lecturers from Nairobi, Kakamega and Machakos medical training colleges are also part of the KSL training.
Discussions are underway to integrate basic sign language into the medical training curriculum.
Article 54 (1d) of the Constitution under the Bill of Rights states that a person with disability is entitled to “use sign language, braille or other appropriate means of communication”.
Mr James Mwisa, a lecturer at Machakos Kenya Medical Training College, terms the initiative timely in addressing the problem of relations with the deaf.
“This course will assist me deal with any deaf student and also impart basic KSL skills on the hearing students,” Mr Mwisa said.
Kakamega Medical Training College currently has a second year deaf student, who learns through lip reading and copying notes from colleagues.
Lip reading, or speech reading, is a technique of understanding speech by visually interpreting the movements of lips, face and tongue of the person speaking.
The nurses, who have been granted a one-year study leave, are studying for nine months and will be expected to undergo a three-month internship at deaf schools before returning to their work stations.
The course began last September and the nurses are expected to graduate in September this year.
Mr Rakuom says the initial goal is to train a considerable number of nurses per county in the next five years.
“They may not be enough to serve the entire county due to budget constraints but this is a step in the right direction,” he adds.
Ms Phanice Khayele, a nurse, says the training will help her handle deaf patients and their families better.
“It was difficult communicating with a deaf patient so most of the time we resort to administering the prescribed drugs to in-patients in the wards,” she points out.
According to the Kenya Deaf Resource Centre website, deaf Kenyans are considered to be more vulnerable to contract HIV due to low education levels, lack of access to information and lack of awareness on reproductive health.
“They interact everyday with the patient so the skill will ease some of the barriers that have existed,” notes Mr Rakuom.
Ms Faith Kiruthi, a nurse, was trained a year ago in a trial project and currently gets invitations to interpret in hospitals, health conferences and during public health campaigns.
“Some of my deaf expectant friends request me to accompany them for their antenatal clinics so they can understand the information communicated,” she says.
Access to medical care
According to Ms Kiruthi, lack of sign language knowledge and other alternative communication systems make access to medical care a frustrating experience for deaf persons.
Mr Washington Akaranga, KSLRP coordinator at the University of Nairobi, says the project will reduce the anxiety among the deaf whenever they visit hospitals.
“Deaf people fear going to hospital for fear of being ignored, queuing for a long time until an interpreter can be found or a misdiagnosis when they eventually see the doctor,” Mr Akaranga told the Nation through an interpreter.
He explains his ordeals while seeking treatment in most hospitals in the last three decades.
“I resorted to writing my symptoms on a piece of paper but this did not help much,” Mr Akaranga added.
A 28-year-old expectant woman in her final trimester experiences a gush of pain in her belly.
Her brother hires a taxi and takes her to the nearest health centre.
At the hospital she gets frustrated as she tries to explain to the staff the nature of the pain in her abdomen.
Doctors and nurses are tongue-tied, literally, and admit her on assumption that labour contractions have began.
In the maternity ward, she reaches out to one of the nurses on duty and gestures at her stomach.
The attending nurse cannot interpret the signal. The young mother signals again. This mother-to-be is deaf and illiterate.
Ms Fatuma Ngoto, a nurse at Coast General Hospital, vividly remembers the events of this day five years ago while on duty at the maternity wing.
“The devastation in her eyes as I tried to decode the message is something I will never forget,” Ms Ngoto explains.
Abdominal pains
However, one of the support staff at the hospital was conversant in basic Kenyan Sign Language and came to her rescue.
“Through the interpreter she explained that she was experiencing sharp abdominal pains and the baby had not kicked that day,” Ms Ngoto says.
With this information the nurse called the doctor in charge and the expectant woman was booked into theatre where she underwent a successful Caesarean section.
“Today the child is healthy and attending kindergarten but I developed a desire to learn Kenyan Sign Language (KSL),” she says.
Sign language uses a system of manual, facial, and other body movements as the means of communication, especially among deaf people.
Ms Ngoto’s dilemma is replayed in most hospitals as the deaf seek health services.
Despite health being a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution, communication barrier is rife.
Article 43 (a) of the Constitution under the Bill of Rights guarantees every person the highest attainable standard of health.
However, the situation is bound to improve if a plan to train nurses in basic sign language by the Department of Nursing under collaborative efforts of the ministries of Medical Services and Public Health takes off successfully.
Ms Ngoto is one of the health workers currently enrolled for the pilot training programme to improve health worker-patient relationship.
Currently, 21 nurses — nominated by the Department of Nursing — are learning the skill at the Kenyan Sign Language Research Project (KSLRP) at the University of Nairobi for one year.
In an interview with the Nation, chief nursing officer Chris Rakuom notes that the communication hurdle has denied deaf persons a chance to seek services in the country’s hospitals.
“Nurses play a crucial role in health education and are in contact with patients most of the time thus the need to train them in the Kenyan Sign Language skills,” Mr Rakuom explains.
He adds: “Lack of awareness of existence of these services among health care providers sometimes results in involvement of family members in consultation, which raises ethical concerns at different levels for example violation of patient rights or poor interpreting services from unqualified family members.”
When the Nation visited the KSL classes at the University of Nairobi lecture halls, the nurses were optimistic that the skills acquired would bridge the gap in provision of health services.
The nurses are drawn from Nakuru, Kakamega, Embu, Coast, Machakos and Nyeri provincial hospitals while others are from Kiambu, Siaya and Webuye district hospitals.
The training is sponsored by the National Council for Persons with Disability.
Vital skills
Ms Violet Kanusu, a mental health nurse at Webuye District Hospital, says the skills will help her handle her patients, four of whom are deaf.
“Prior to the training, waving was the only sign I knew and I relied heavily on writing on a piece of paper to communicate with the patients,” Ms Kwanusu says.
Lecturers from Nairobi, Kakamega and Machakos medical training colleges are also part of the KSL training.
Discussions are underway to integrate basic sign language into the medical training curriculum.
Article 54 (1d) of the Constitution under the Bill of Rights states that a person with disability is entitled to “use sign language, braille or other appropriate means of communication”.
Mr James Mwisa, a lecturer at Machakos Kenya Medical Training College, terms the initiative timely in addressing the problem of relations with the deaf.
“This course will assist me deal with any deaf student and also impart basic KSL skills on the hearing students,” Mr Mwisa said.
Kakamega Medical Training College currently has a second year deaf student, who learns through lip reading and copying notes from colleagues.
Lip reading, or speech reading, is a technique of understanding speech by visually interpreting the movements of lips, face and tongue of the person speaking.
The nurses, who have been granted a one-year study leave, are studying for nine months and will be expected to undergo a three-month internship at deaf schools before returning to their work stations.
The course began last September and the nurses are expected to graduate in September this year.
Mr Rakuom says the initial goal is to train a considerable number of nurses per county in the next five years.
“They may not be enough to serve the entire county due to budget constraints but this is a step in the right direction,” he adds.
Ms Phanice Khayele, a nurse, says the training will help her handle deaf patients and their families better.
“It was difficult communicating with a deaf patient so most of the time we resort to administering the prescribed drugs to in-patients in the wards,” she points out.
According to the Kenya Deaf Resource Centre website, deaf Kenyans are considered to be more vulnerable to contract HIV due to low education levels, lack of access to information and lack of awareness on reproductive health.
“They interact everyday with the patient so the skill will ease some of the barriers that have existed,” notes Mr Rakuom.
Ms Faith Kiruthi, a nurse, was trained a year ago in a trial project and currently gets invitations to interpret in hospitals, health conferences and during public health campaigns.
“Some of my deaf expectant friends request me to accompany them for their antenatal clinics so they can understand the information communicated,” she says.
Access to medical care
According to Ms Kiruthi, lack of sign language knowledge and other alternative communication systems make access to medical care a frustrating experience for deaf persons.
Mr Washington Akaranga, KSLRP coordinator at the University of Nairobi, says the project will reduce the anxiety among the deaf whenever they visit hospitals.
“Deaf people fear going to hospital for fear of being ignored, queuing for a long time until an interpreter can be found or a misdiagnosis when they eventually see the doctor,” Mr Akaranga told the Nation through an interpreter.
He explains his ordeals while seeking treatment in most hospitals in the last three decades.
“I resorted to writing my symptoms on a piece of paper but this did not help much,” Mr Akaranga added.