Role Purpose
To glorify God by providing compassionate, excellent, safe, and high-quality emergency and critical care to paediatric patients presenting at AGC Tenwek Hospital and other healthcare facilities where the officer may be assigned.
Key Responsibilities
Spiritual Ministry and Christian Witness
- Demonstrate a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and uphold the Christian mission, vision, and values of AGC Tenwek Hospital.
- Be a witness of Jesus Christ through compassionate service, professional conduct, and the discipleship of others for God’s greater glory.
- Participate in the Hospital’s spiritual activities and appropriately support the spiritual and emotional needs of patients and their families.
Clinical Care
- Serve as the primary clinician for undifferentiated paediatric patients presenting to the Emergency or Casualty Department when assigned to the department.
- Conduct timely assessment, triage, diagnosis, stabilization, treatment, and appropriate referral of acutely ill or injured neonates, infants, children, and adolescents.
- Provide continuous care to paediatric patients admitted to critical care areas, including the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, High Dependency Unit, Neonatal Unit, Emergency Department, and other designated clinical areas.
- Develop and implement evidence-based management plans for critically ill paediatric patients in consultation with paediatricians and other members of the multidisciplinary team.
- Recognize clinical deterioration and promptly initiate appropriate emergency interventions and escalation of care.
- Lead and participate in paediatric rapid-response and resuscitation teams.
- Monitor and manage paediatric patients requiring respiratory support, including those receiving oxygen therapy, non-invasive ventilation, or mechanical ventilation.
- Ensure safe prescribing, calculation, preparation, and administration of paediatric medications and intravenous fluids in accordance with approved protocols.
- Coordinate referrals, consultations, admissions, transfers, and discharge planning for paediatric patients.
- Communicate clearly and compassionately with parents and caregivers regarding the child’s condition, proposed interventions, progress, and follow-up requirements.
- Maintain accurate, complete, confidential, and timely clinical documentation.
Clinical Competencies and Skills
- Obtain a comprehensive, age-appropriate clinical history and conduct a thorough physical examination of neonates, infants, children, and adolescents.
- Rapidly develop differential diagnoses for undifferentiated paediatric presentations.
- Appropriately triage children requiring urgent or immediate intervention.
- Recognize and manage paediatric shock, respiratory distress, altered consciousness, seizures, severe infections, trauma, and other life-threatening conditions.
- Safely initiate stabilization and ongoing management plans for critically ill paediatric patients.
- Calculate weight-based medication doses, maintenance fluids, replacement fluids, and emergency infusions accurately.
- Interpret relevant paediatric laboratory results, radiological investigations, electrocardiograms, and physiological monitoring data.
- Provide continuous care for critically ill and mechanically ventilated paediatric patients.
- Recognize the limits of personal competence and escalate care promptly to the appropriate specialist.
Requirements
- Diploma or bachelor’s degree in clinical medicine and surgery from a recognized institution.
- Higher Diploma or recognized postgraduate training in Paediatrics and Child Health, Emergency and Critical Care, or a closely related field is desirable.
- Registration with the Clinical Officers Council of Kenya.
- Valid annual practising licence from the Clinical Officers Council.
- Valid certification in Basic Life Support and an appropriate paediatric advanced life-support course.
