Nairobi — After years of caring for other people's children, fate mocked her by having her two sons diagnosed with a life threatening blood defect.

But that never dampened her spirit. Humility and sacrifice for others finally paid off, and Mrs Mary Wanjiku Kenda was on Wednesday declared the Johnson and Johson Nurse of the Year.

The Head Nurse at Mtwapa Dispensary in Kilifi District bagged the Sh100,000 educational scholarship, a golden badge and certificates.

She beat seven other provincial finalists in a rigorous selection that started with district selections.

She took her first step in the journey to the top 21 years ago. Armed with a certificate in Enrolled Community Nursing from Thika School of Nursing, she took the plunge into the world of hospital wards and theatres.

"It's been very challenging at times, but I've always been determined to do the best for my patients," she told the Nation.

Upon graduation, she was posted to Taveta District Hospital at the Coast, where she would stay for six years before moving to Malindi District Hospital.

She also worked at Malindi, Kiambu and Kilifi district hospitals before heading back to her former college in 2002; she is now a qualified registered community health nurse.

With the new qualifications came promotions. She was posted to Vipingo Health Centre in Kilifi District as deputy head nurse in 2004. Barely two years later, she moved to her current station as the head nurse.

Mrs Kenda has had to endure a challenging working environment with inadequate infrastructure and medical supplies. "Sometimes we are few in the hospital, but we have to do the best for the patients," she said.

Seeking advice

Seeking advice from her colleagues and keeping the interests of the community at heart, Mrs Kenda has surmounted the challenges.

Her most memorable moment remains a risk she took at her first work station. While at the paediatric ward, she encountered a two-year-old child suffering from severe anaemia, who had been brought in by demanding parents.

Blood transfusion was urgently necessary, but this involved the delicate process of drawing blood from the jugular vein. Such procedures, according to practice, could only be carried out by a doctor or clinical officer.

When she could not find any at the hospital, she decided to take a risk that was tantamount to putting her job on the line. She had drawn the blood and was taking it to the laboratory for cross-matching when the hospital's chief nursing officer appeared.

"She told me to carry on, but if anything went wrong I would be personally responsible," she recalls.

But it has not been without challenges. While working at Vipingo Health Centre four years ago, her two sons, aged 13 and 11 were diagnosed with haemophilia, a blood defect.

According to medical reports posted on the Internet, Haemophilia is a hereditary lifelong blood condition in which one of the components essential for clotting is either partly or completely missing.

"My life came to a standstill, since this is a life-threatening condition," she said.

Mrs Kenda could not imagine that fate would deal her such treacherous cards after all the effort she had put into nursing other people's children back to health.

But she accepted the turn of events and threw herself into ensuring her boys lead normal lives, despite the condition.

So far, all seems to be going on well. The eldest is a student at Alliance High School and is set to sit his end of secondary education examination later this month. Her lastborn is a Form One student at Upper Hill High School.

Mrs Kenda says her family supported her all along, especially her husband, Mr Andrew Kenda. "He has enabled me to achieve all that I have."

Mrs Kenda was born in 1964 at Waigiri Village in Kirinyaga. She attended Waigiri primary school, before moving to Kirinyaga Girls High School.

She is the 25th winner of the Nurse of the Year Award, which is sponsored by beauty and pharmaceutical firm, Johnson and Johnson, premiered in 1983.

The search for the winner began when district health management teams picked a representative to face off in the provincials.

The national winner was declared in Kakamega during a scientific conference organised by the National Nurses Association of Kenya that doubled up as its annual general meeting.

Each of the eight provincial winners will receive partial scholarships worth Sh30,000 to improve their professional qualifications in place of the cash awards of previous years.