- The Kenya Health Workforce Report 2023 reveals that over 42,000 trained nurses are seeking employment, a figure that grows annually.
- The irony remains: public hospitals are still short-staffed and struggle with high patient-to-nurse ratios, despite the availability of trained nurses. This not only affects service delivery but also undermines universal health coverage goals.
- Stakeholders suggest expanding the role of nurses into preventive health, community care, and school-based health programs to open up new employment channels.
In Kenya, the nursing profession—once considered a job secure career choice—is now grappling with a serious oversupply problem at both diploma and degree levels. Thousands of qualified nurses are jobless, despite the country’s continued need for healthcare services, yet it is one of those professions that cannot be replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI). In the recent past, I have received so many volunteering requests from licensed nurses, prompting me to write this article.
The Kenya Health Workforce Report 2023 reveals that over 42,000 trained nurses are seeking employment, a figure that grows annually. This mismatch between training and employment has alarmed both the public and health sector stakeholders.
Over the past 20 years, Kenya has seen a sharp increase in nursing training institutions. Government campaigns, especially during the HIV/AIDS epidemic and later, COVID-19 pandemic, encouraged students to join the healthcare profession. Many new institutions including the 50 plus universities in Kenya, are now offering nursing programs. Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) and several private middle-level colleges have also expanded their intake, leading to a surge in nursing graduates.
While this move initially sought to resolve staffing shortages in health facilities, especially in rural areas, it has now created a glut of jobless professionals.
Alarming Statistics
According to the Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK), about 10,000 students graduate with nursing qualifications annually, but fewer than 3,000 are absorbed into the workforce. The NCK further reports that more than 40% of registered nurses are either unemployed or underemployed.
Budget constraints have worsened the situation. Counties have frozen hiring due to limited funds, leaving facilities understaffed despite the abundance of trained nurses. Urban centers such as Nairobi have become oversaturated, while rural areas continue to face shortages because of poor infrastructure and limited local government resources.
Contributing Factors and Impact
Several factors contribute to this crisis. Chief among them is the imbalance between training output and the public health sector’s employment capacity. Training institutions continue admitting large numbers of students, yet employment quotas have not kept pace.
This situation has also prompted a significant brain drain. In 2023 alone, over 5,000 nurses left Kenya for jobs abroad in countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia. International deployment programs, like Kenya’s recent deal with Saudi Arabia to export nurses, only offer temporary relief. While these migrations benefit foreign health systems, they undermine Kenya’s healthcare capacity by draining its skilled workforce.
The irony remains: public hospitals are still short-staffed and struggle with high patient-to-nurse ratios, despite the availability of trained nurses. This not only affects service delivery but also undermines universal health coverage goals.
Policy Gaps and Challenges
At the heart of the crisis lies a failure in workforce planning. The Ministry of Health has yet to establish a comprehensive labour market information system that can inform the number of training slots based on projected needs. Deployment and recruitment strategies are disjointed between national and county governments, often plagued by delays and political interference.
Additionally, there is limited collaboration between the public and private sectors in creating sustainable employment pathways for nurses. Most private facilities operate independently without coordinated hiring plans linked to national workforce goals.
The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has called for immediate action, urging the government to conduct an updated national health workforce needs assessment. Experts recommend capping admissions into nursing programs until a balance is achieved between supply and demand.
Moreover, stakeholders suggest expanding the role of nurses into preventive health, community care, and school-based health programs to open up new employment channels. Regional deployment and international job placement agreements—like Kenya’s recent nursing export deal with Saudi Arabia—also offer some relief.
Partnerships with NGOs, county governments, and the private sector are key to unlocking new job opportunities while improving healthcare delivery.
Kenya stands at a crossroads. The saturation of the nursing profession is not merely a labour issue—it reflects deeper gaps in health policy, economic planning, and educational oversight. With thousands of trained nurses languishing without employment, the country must act swiftly and collaboratively to align training with need, improve absorption, and harness this human capital for the betterment of public health.
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The Author is a Professor of Chemistry at University of Eldoret, a former Vice-Chancellor, and a Higher Education expert and Quality Assurance Consultant. okothmdo@gmail.com
