Eunice Muringo Kiereini facts for kids
Eunice Muringo Kiereini, born in 1939, is a very important retired nurse from Kenya. She was Kenya's Chief Nursing Officer from 1968 to 1986. This meant she was in charge of making sure nursing in Kenya was excellent after the country became independent. She worked with many health groups both in Kenya and around the world. She was also the first African president of a big international group called the International Council of Nurses (ICN).
Early Life and Education
Eunice Muringo Githae was born on September 24, 1939, in Kerugoya. Her parents were both teachers. After finishing high school at Loreto High School in Limuru, she traveled to the United Kingdom. There, she trained to be a nurse at Southampton General Hospital from 1959 to 1962.
After becoming a qualified nurse, she went to Edinburgh, Scotland, to train as a midwife. She finished this training in 1964. When she returned to Kenya, she worked at George VI Hospital, which is now known as Kenyatta National Hospital. She then went for more training at Victoria University School of Nursing in Wellington, New Zealand. Later, she became the private nurse for Kenya's first President, Jomo Kenyatta. In 1967, she played a big part in starting the National Nurses Association of Kenya. This group became a legal organization in 1968. In 1971, she married Jeremiah Kiereini, who was a senior government official and businessman.
A Career of Impact
Eunice Kiereini served as the Chief Nursing Officer at the Ministry of Health from 1968 to 1986. In this important role, she helped bring about many new and improved ways of nursing and nurse training in Kenya.
Some of her key achievements included:
- Starting the first advanced nursing course in East Africa. This course was offered at Nairobi University.
- Changing how healthcare was given. Instead of just focusing on hospitals, she helped move towards more community nursing. This meant nurses would help people in their local areas and homes.
- Helping to create a new law called the Nurses Act. This law gave professional nurses more freedom and responsibility in their work.
In the mid-1970s, she was part of a group that advised on health training in Africa. This project was supported by USAID. She also helped start the Kenya Water for Health Organisation.
International Leadership
Eunice Kiereini made a big difference on the world stage too. From 1981 to 1985, she was the first African president of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). This is a major organization that represents nurses all over the world. Before that, she was a Board Member of the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation from 1977 to 1979.
In 1986, Tel Aviv University gave her an Honorary Fellowship, which is a special award. In the early 1990s, she was a member of the Global Advisory Council on AIDS. She also worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) in different ways, including being the chairman of their Regional Nursing Task Force in Nairobi. She has also been a consultant for the Rockefeller Foundation. More recently, since 2010, she has been the chairman of the council for the Flying Doctors Society of Africa, chairman of Impact East Africa, and a trustee of the Rattansi Educational Trust.
