So sad! Kenyan nurse killed by a mental health patient in the US.

A Kenyan-born psychiatric nurse practitioner was fatally stabbed by one of her patients in Durham, United States.June Onkundi who worked at the Freedom House recovery centre, a non-profit behavioral healthcare agency, was allegedly stabbed in her own office on Tuesday, October 18.

Onkundi had worked as a nurse in the health care industry for years but had started working at the recovery centre about three months ago.

According to her relatives, she travelled to the US when she was 19-years-old to pursue her dreams. The deceased’s brother Onditi Nunda said that she was gone far too soon, faulting the facility for not installing workplace safety measures which he argued would have saved their loved one.
“This is a dream that has been cut short. She felt that this was actually her calling and so I think she could also be informed by her faith and background in serving this underserved community,’ he said….”How did this happen because you would expect that there is workplace safety. The system let all of us down, the system let June down.”

Another relative Andrew Nyabwari mourned Onkundi as a zealous individual who loved her job and tend to the underserved populous.Onkundi has left behind four children all under the age of 16 and her husband.
“June was a loving mother, a devoted wife, hard-working individual who had a passion for taking care of the underserved population which is mental health,” he said.

With the family questioning why he was not in prison, the man charged in the murder James Gomes, 47, has a history of attacking women though, a US media outlet futher learnt that he has spent more than a third of his life in prison.Meanwhile there have been calls for protection of nurses on the job to avert such incidences.

Article By Suzy Nyongesa.