Need for Rwanda Mental Health Nurses towards advancing their studies

The Rwandan Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses (RSPN), requested that the government establish a Bachelor’s Degree for those in the profession.

It is one of the announcements made at the 16th International Conference of IAPN which unites Nurses in charge of taking care of people with mental problems in the world, which was gathered in Kigali a few days ago.

Some of the invited guests at the event.

The head of IAPN at the world level, FEMI DUYILENI, says that they decided to hold this conference in Rwanda, mainly due to the major problems that the country faced, including the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis, due to its effects and the fact that it is located in a region where there are mental problems that need attention.

He says that taking care of people with mental problems is a long journey that requires the active participation of all people, including governments, international organizations and people in general.

The head of IAPN at the world level, FEMI DUYILENI

He says, "At the international level, we can say that the problems of mental illness continue to increase mainly due to the threat of war, poverty, unemployment and many other problems that cause people to feel depressed and rejected.”

Edmond Duthanye who is the president of the Association of Nurses in Rwanda(RSPMN), says that in their association has put effort into a campaign that mainly aims to explain to people how to avoid the causes of mental health problems and tell them the difference between having mental problems and mental illness, this is done where they are, whether in schools, in cooperatives and many other places where there are many people.

He says, “Since 1999, the association has helped Rwandans a lot in dealing with mental health from health centers and hospitals. It is in this context that we want to have a research-based role. These three days we have shared our views with our friends from about ten countries, who have decided to come to Rwanda to learn and to share with us where they have reached and how they care for people with mental problems in their countries. take care of them.”

He says that Nurses who take care of people with mental problems still have the limitations of having only studied the first level of the University (A1), and therefore a call and need to advance to another level of education besides what they have.

Edmond Duthanye, President of the Association of Nurses in Rwanda(RSPMN)

On the other hand, he says that in a short study they conducted on 98 people who work in the field of mental health, they found that 70% have a first degree, 2% have a second degree but studied abroad, 11 studied more, there are others who have 3rd grade but also studied abroad.

What’s more, he says in the survey, they found that 6% of the workers were unhappy with being a mental health nurse, 14% were not at all happy, while 25% were not sure if they were happy or unhappy.

Edmond however is proud that despite these problems they are working well and are very proud that they have played an important role in caring for people with mental problems for 25 years, so he thanks the Government of Rwanda for helping them all the time, which is also going to help them continue in the ranks what happened next at the University.

Dr. Philomene Uwimana, who represented the University of Rwanda (UR), asked the nurses to wait for next year because so far this is the answer the country has for them.

Dr. Philomene Uwimana

She said, "They wait patiently because there are many who don’t wait and go to other than following the department they were married to because there was no program. Today I feel no worries. since the course has started I think it will work well, they will pursue their choice.’’

A survey conducted by RSPN noted that 98 mental health nurses found that 78% of them had studied to the Advanced Diploma level, only two of whom had studied abroad at a Second Level University ( Bachelor’s Degree), and one of them has a Master’s degree from abroad.

By Mugenzi Napoleon