Makueni nurse who left newborn naked overnight sacked

A nurse implicated in the death of a newborn baby at a hospital in Makueni County has been sacked.

The development comes barely a week after The Standard highlighted the plight of a woman who lost her baby within 24 hours of delivery in what was termed as negligence by the nurse.

County Health Executive Andrew Mulwa, who announced the nurse’s ban from practicing within Makueni County, said the health worker depicted gross misconduct in discharge of duties.

On April 26, Dorcus Kambua, 25, visited Kitise Health Centre within Makueni County after developing labour pains at her home in Athiani village.

She arrived at the facility around 11am and delivered a baby boy two hours later.

After birth, the nurse informed the mother that the baby would not survive since it had been born with a dead brain and had failed to cry after birth as required.

“He took it to another room and cautioned me against opening the room before leaving,” Kambua told The Standard.

She would later be taken to the quarantined room by instincts only to find that the baby had not died.

“That was the following day around 5am. The baby had been left uncovered for the entire night,” she said.

The baby was referred to Makueni Level 4 Hospital but died at around 9pm on April 27.

Face sanctions

The CEC said the nurse will also face sanctions from the Nursing Council of Kenya that might include getting struck off from the register for misconduct.

“We will not allow the nurse to work with us and we will recommend to the Nursing Council of Kenya in line with our final report after thorough investigations,” Dr Mulwa said.

A county task force drawn from the Department of Health has investigated and upheld various allegations against the nurse.

The family of the baby has since recorded a statement with the nursing body.