Curationis最新文献

Background:  In 2021, there were about 263 million cases of malaria reported around the world and 579 reported deaths globally. There were extreme cases of malaria worldwide, regionally, provincially, and in the Vhembe District. Despite current efforts and several advancements to control vectors and prevent bites to minimise its burden, malaria remains a serious health issue.

Objectives:  The objective of the study was to explore the experiences of people diagnosed with malaria regarding signs and symptoms at Mhinga Village in the Vhembe District, Limpopo province, South Africa.

Method:  A qualitative method, with an exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was used to get an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with an interview guide focused on the experiences of people who were diagnosed with malaria regarding signs and symptoms at Mhinga Village in the Vhembe District, Limpopo. Participants were purposively selected. Qualitative thematic analysis was conducted using codes.

Results:  Two subthemes emerged: experiences with signs and symptoms and circumstances prompting immediate consultation. Different signs and symptoms were experienced based on the systems.

Conclusion:  The study concluded that the participants had experienced symptoms of malaria according to systems and certain circumstances were present that drove participants to consult immediately.Contribution: This study increased awareness of malaria prevention strategies, which may lower malaria transmission. Unique contributions include protecting Limpopo province's Department of Health from admittance cuts. Malaria morbidity, death and treatment costs may decrease. Policymakers may encourage the community to continue malaria prevention methods, including mosquito avoidance and antimalarial use, which have been shown to work.

Background:  Patient safety incidents are a major concern in healthcare delivery, impacting patient care and health outcomes. Understanding the factors contributing to patient safety incidents is important for developing targeted strategies. Identifying these factors will enable healthcare organisations to formulate effective approaches to prevent and mitigate incidents.

Objectives:  This study aimed to assess the contributing factors to patient safety incidents at the three selected public hospitals in Gauteng province, South Africa. The research was conducted at the three selected public hospitals in Gauteng province, South Africa, categorised as central, regional and district.

Method:  A descriptive quantitative approach was utilised. Five hundred questionnaires were administered to nursing staff and quality assurance managers. A stratified sampling strategy was employed. The data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26.0.

Results:  Work or environment (92.72%), organisational or service (91.00%), staff (87.40%) and patient (90.97%) factors were identified as the contributing factors to patient safety incidents.

Conclusion:  The overall impression of these results is that multiple factors contribute to patient safety incidents, with varying levels of perceived impact. The findings of the study imply the need for policy development, provision of adequate staffing, consumables and equipment, staff training on developed policies and procedures, and embarking on continuous quality improvement initiatives.Contribution: This study contributes to the understanding of factors contributing to patient safety incidents within the public hospitals and furnishes healthcare leaders with focused areas for improvement.

Background:  The post-graduate completion period plays a significant role in individual career development and funding research activities in Nursing Education institutions (NEIs). Nursing Education institutions must produce more post-graduate research nursing students (PGRNSs) and supervisors to sustain and enhance research funding opportunities. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of information and documentation on strategies to improve supervisors' and students' preparedness for collaboration throughout the post-graduate study.

Objectives:  The study aims to describe the process followed when developing a model to facilitate the preparedness of post-graduate students and research supervisors for a joint research journey.

Method:  The study utilised a theory-generating, qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design, grounded by Chinn and Kramer's four stages of model development to achieve the aim. The four steps guided the conceptual framework for the development of the model. Data collected from 16 postgraduate students and 12 research supervisors were analysed with content thematic analysis.

Results:  Four themes were generated; perceptions regarding postgraduate supervision provided or received, perceptions regarding preparedness for the research journey, support systems influencing preparedness for the research journey and hope for change in the research progress when concerns are addressed. Facilitating preparedness, resilience and research support were the main concepts that grounded the process of the model development.

Conclusion:  The successfully developed model provides a reference framework for improving the completion period of postgraduate studies. As the model has not been tested as yet, we recommend future studies to test the validity and reliability of the model in enhancing preparedness and improving the post-graduate throughput rate.Contribution: The findings advance human capacity development, such as nurses with master's and PhD qualifications - as inexperienced research professionals.

Background:  Nursing is regarded as a caring profession, with a core focus on providing care to others to improve or maintain their health. As a result, ongoing research is conducted to provide recommendations for improved clinical outcomes, which professional nurses would usually execute. However, despite the continuous changes and challenges within the nursing profession, little effort has been made to unveil explicit guidance on how professional nurses should engage in self-care practices to promote and sustain their well-being.

Objectives:  This study aimed to describe recommendations to facilitate professional nurses' empowerment in practising self-care as a lifestyle.

Method:  A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was employed to obtain rich data from 10 purposively sampled professional nurses. Unstructured individual interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using Colaizzi's method.

Results:  The main study uncovered three themes, but this study explored only one: professional nurses' urgent need to break free from the vicious, depriving cycle of not practising self-care.

Conclusion:  Sustainable recommendations are needed to empower professional nurses in self-care practices.Contribution: This study provides clear and cost-effective recommendations on what professional nurses can do to promote self-care practices.

Background:  The midwifery specialisation is one of sixteen clinical nursing specialisations in South Africa aimed at ensuring safe and comprehensive patient care. While specific training guidelines to ensure expanded knowledge and skills amongst the midwife specialists exist, there are no relevant regulations to legalise their specialists' knowledge. Current practice regulations are unsupportive of the midwife specialists' roles in clinical settings.

Objectives:  This study aimed to explore and describe the legislative framework of midwife specialists' education and practice through the lens of midwife specialists in South Africa.

Method:  Qualitative, explorative and descriptive research was followed. Sixteen midwife specialists identified through purposive sampling participated in virtual, semi-structured focus group interviews. Data were analysed using Collaizi's descriptive method. The context of the study is the public maternal health services of South Africa.

Results:  One central theme with seven subthemes emerged. Midwife specialists verbalised their views on the current education and training regulations (R.212; R.635 and competencies of midwife specialists). The midwife specialists also shared their views on practice regulations (R.2127, R.2488, R.767 and position statements on registered midwives' allocation and participation in surgical procedures). Additionally, midwife specialists highlighted the misalignments in these regulations.

Conclusion:  Revision of the current legislation must align the midwife specialists' education and training competencies and outcomes. The alignment of these regulations will in turn legalise their specialists' practice.Contribution: This article advocates for the regulatory body's legal recognition of midwife specialists to enable autonomous and independent practice among midwife specialists.

Background:  Healthcare practitioners are required to keep patient information private, though sharing is sometimes necessary for patient care, risking confidentiality breaches that can compromise privacy rights. Professional nurses lead HIV prevention, treatment, and care services, but issues like loss to follow-up and confidentiality breaches leading patients to move between clinics to hide their status pose challenges.

Objectives:  This study explored factors influencing professional nurses' ability to maintain confidentiality in primary healthcare facilities in OR Tambo, Eastern Cape, aiming to develop intervention strategies.

Method:  A qualitative, descriptive, contextual design was used. Nineteen purposively sampled professional nurses participated in semi-structured interviews until data saturation. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analysed using Tesch's method.

Results:  Findings revealed that confidentiality is impacted by resource shortages, limited knowledge, negative attitudes, and inadequate training. Challenges vary across facilities, but nurses recognize the importance of confidentiality. Participants suggested the need for ongoing training on guidelines and consent procedures to uphold confidentiality.

Conclusion:  Strengthening confidentiality in HIV care requires comprehensive strategies, including staff empowerment, infrastructure improvements, and initiatives to positively influence staff attitudes.Contribution: These insights can guide the development of targeted interventions, inform curriculum enhancements, and support future research initiatives.

Background:  The shortage of healthcare workers is a global phenomenon with many regions experiencing difficulties in providing a healthcare workforce to meet their demand for healthcare. This situation has led to developed countries recruiting staff from developing countries, thereby causing a shortage in the source country, referred to as a brain drain. Given the negative impact of the turnover of healthcare staff on patient safety, service delivery, healthcare cost and staff morale within healthcare facilities, this research study investigates the current composition of nurses in South Africa versus the World Health Organization (WHO) standard.

Objectives:  The study aims to enhance the retention of healthcare workers.

Method:  Secondary data collection was utilised to assess how the composition of nurses in South Africa compares against the WHO standard. Non-probability sampling was adopted to draw the study sample to collect data in the original study from nurses registered with the South African Nursing Council (SANC), employing a mixed-method approach to data collection and analysis.

Results:  The results indicate that South Africa's nurses-to-population ratio exceeds the WHO standard.

Conclusion:  Although South Africa's nurse-to-population ratio exceeds the WHO standard, these figures do not accurately reflect the nursing situation in the country.Contribution: Recommendations are presented which, when effectively implemented, have the potential to enhance the retention of professional nurses and improve healthcare service delivery in South Africa.

Background:  Globally, there is an increasing focus on enhancing the quality of midwifery care. In public institutions, primary care midwifery is provided at a midwife obstetric unit (MOU). Midwives at MOUs are the first contact that pregnant women have when accessing midwifery care. There exists a notable disparity in the perception of quality midwifery care between midwives and women. In South Africa, there has been a scarcity of research examining the perspectives of midwives and women, regarding the quality of midwifery care provided during childbirth.

Objectives:  The objective of this study was to explore and describe women's and midwives' perceptions of the quality of midwifery care during childbirth, at a MOU in Cape Town in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Method:  A qualitative exploratory descriptive design was utilised. Four women and five midwives were selected through purposive sampling. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken, transcribed and analysed utilising Tesch's eight-step approach to qualitative data analysis.

Results:  Three themes emerged: (1) understanding of quality midwifery care, (2) experiences of women during childbirth and (3) support received by women and midwives.

Conclusion:  The quality of midwifery care remains compromised within the MOU setting due to various challenges encompassing limitations of both human and physical resources. It is imperative to establish a shared understanding of what constitutes quality midwifery care, as women and midwives often perceive it differently.Contribution: Midwifery care during childbirth requires the engagement of all stakeholders, including women, to enhance the quality of midwifery care provided.

Background:  An infant needs adequate, safe and appropriate complementary foods, with continued breastfeeding, at the age of six for survival, growth and development. However, young mothers stopped breastfeeding their children earlier than the recommended time and this often leads to the early introduction of food before the target age of 6 months. If this continues, malnutrition in children under 2 years will increase, leading to growth retardation, delayed mental development and impaired intellectual level.

Objectives:  This article aimed to determine factors influencing early introduction of complementary feeding in children under 2 years in the selected hospitals of Vhembe District, Limpopo province.

Method:  A qualitative approach was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to select four hospitals with high admission rates of malnutrition in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo province. Unstructured focus group discussions were conducted with 32 young mothers who were purposively sampled. Data were analysed using Tesch's eight steps. Measures to ensure trustworthiness were employed. Ethical considerations were adhered to throughout the study.

Results:  The study findings revealed that young mothers had different knowledge about infant feeding of children under 2 years of age because of cultural beliefs and insufficient information on appropriate food types. This may have a negative impact on the normal growth and development of children as they lack proper nutrients.

Conclusion:  The study provided knowledge of varied beliefs and misconceptions regarding complementary feeding.Contribution: This study adds information to improve young mothers' knowledge about complementary feeding.

Background:  Nursing simulations with simulated patients (SPs) have proven effective in creating realistic opportunities to enhance the students' clinical competence within a safe learning environment. This setting helps to reduce anxiety and increases self-confidence among health sciences students. This study aimed to explore experiences of SPs in clinical skills laboratory of a Department of Nursing at a university in Western Cape.

Objectives:  Objectives were set to explore the contextual elements of SPs' experiences during clinical skills sessions, identify educational design aspects from those experiences and assess their views on student outcomes.

Method:  A qualitative descriptive, exploratory and contextual design was used. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight SPs. The data were coded to develop emerging themes and sub-themes, following Braun and Clark's systematic analysis process. An independent coder reviewed findings, and themes were confirmed during a consensus meeting.

Results:  This study found that SPs engaged in multiple role-play consultations, improving their understanding of healthcare consultation structures and rules. They recognised their roles in achieving the outcomes needed for students.

Conclusion:  This study confirmed existing literature on SPs in a clinical skills laboratory within a Department of Nursing. Participant interviews provided verbatim quotations that enriched findings.Contribution: The study aimed to recommend ways for a Department of Nursing to support SPs in improving their laboratory skills and enhancing student learning. Expanding this research to other nursing education institutions could provide a broader understanding of SPs' experiences.