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Background:  Children with profound intellectual disabilities are unable to do anything for themselves and require full-time care in healthcare facilities. While caring for children, secondary caregivers become overwhelmed. Coupled with little or no support, the overwhelming work affects their psychological, social and financial well-being. Mental healthcare practitioners have perspectives on conditions under which secondary caregivers work and how can they be supported. Little is known about such perspectives.

Objectives:  This study aims to explore and describe the perspectives of mental healthcare practitioners regarding the conditions under which secondary caregivers of children with profound intellectual disabilities work and how can they be supported.

Method:  A qualitative-exploratory-descriptive and contextual research design was adopted using a non-probability purposive sampling technique. This study was conducted in Gauteng province. Semi-structured individual interviews were performed to collect data. Content data analysis and ATLAS.ti were used to analyse the data.

Results:  Knowledge and skills development, stress reduction, resources and motivation were themes that emerged.

Conclusion:  This study explored and described the perspectives of mental healthcare practitioners regarding the conditions under which secondary caregivers of children with profound intellectual disabilities work and how can they be supported. If implemented, perspectives can improve the holistic well-being of secondary caregivers.Contribution: This study broadened an understanding of how secondary caregivers can be supported. Future researchers can use study results to develop programmes, intervention strategies and frameworks to support secondary caregivers.

Background:  Low viral load suppression rates among older adolescents and young adults with HIV are a global challenge, including in Namibia. Healthcare providers struggle with managing these age groups due to their unique demographic characteristics. Monitoring viral load suppression is vital for evaluating antiretroviral treatment effectiveness, making it essential to identify and address existing gaps.

Objectives:  This study aimed to explore and describe healthcare practitioners' understanding and experiences in managing older adolescents and younger adults living with HIV in seven high-burden districts of Namibia.

Method:  Qualitative descriptive phenomenological research was followed in this study. Healthcare practitioners directly managing older adolescents and younger adults living with HIV were purposively recruited. Telephonic individual interviews were conducted, and data saturation was achieved with the 29th participant. Colaizzi's seven-step analysis was used to analyse the data.

Results:  Two themes emerged from the study: (1) healthcare practitioners' knowledge of viral load management and (2) the strategies employed to manage high viral load in these age groups. These strategies included implementing differentiated service delivery, adopting interprofessional and Ubuntu approaches, psychosocial support, community engagement, enhancing adherence counselling, and support from implementing partners.

Conclusion:  The findings revealed inadequate knowledge among healthcare practitioners regarding viral load management, which negatively impacts the provision of quality care and an effective HIV response within the spirit of Ubuntu.Contribution: This study enhances healthcare practitioners' capacity in viral load management and guides policy makers in supporting this unique population, thus improving their health outcomes.

Background:  Exercise during pregnancy is beneficial to both the pregnant woman and the foetus. Midwifery educators play a crucial role in ensuring that midwifery students receive the knowledge and training needed to demonstrate antenatal exercises. To ensure that their students understand and deliver adequate antenatal care, midwifery educators should be highly knowledgeable in pregnancy-related exercises.

Objectives:  The study was conducted to determine the knowledge of midwifery educators about antenatal exercise.

Method:  A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted of the knowledge about antenatal exercises by midwifery educators. A purposive total population of 54 midwifery educators from three midwifery schools in Cross River State, Nigeria, was included in the study. Questionnaires were used for data collection, and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27 was used for data analysis. Ethical issues and rigour were maintained.

Results:  The study revealed that antenatal exercises are included in the midwifery curriculum and exercise demonstration were mainly done by midwifery educators and clinical instructors. The majority (n = 34, 66.7%) of the respondents were knowledgeable about World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for exercise during pregnancy and had an average knowledge of the ideal antenatal exercises.

Conclusion:  Midwifery educators have average knowledge of the ideal antenatal exercises, which prompts the development of an exercise programme to guide midwifery training and practice. Midwifery educators should collaborate with exercise specialists to teach and demonstrate antenatal exercises.Contribution: The study highlighted the need for midwifery educators to obtain more information on antenatal exercises to adequately prepare midwifery students for evidence-based exercise care for pregnant women.

Background:  Labour pain is associated with detrimental maternal and foetal physical and psychological effects. Labour analgesia is a basic right for all women and labour epidural analgesia has been accepted as the gold standard for providing such, with reported improvement in patient satisfaction. In South Africa, studies have shown that labour epidural rates are low. At an academic hospital in Johannesburg, a 24-h labour epidural service combined with an awareness campaign and educational programme (LEAP) was initiated with the aim of improving labour epidural rates. Results showed a short-lived uptake with a subsequent decline.

Objectives:  This study explored the experiences of labour ward nursing staff regarding the labour epidural service at this academic hospital including perceived limitations and possible recommendations regarding improving service provision.

Method:  A qualitative, descriptive and exploratory study was conducted. Purposive sampling was used with semistructured, audio-recorded individual interviews, thematic analysis was performed using Braun and Clarke's six-phase approach.

Results:  The key theme is required education and supervision of epidural insertion (see page 3), management of childbirth and challenges related to epidural service provision.

Conclusion:  A positive sentiment was expressed by the participants; however, deficiencies in the service such as shortages of experienced personnel, work constraints and insufficient training may be affecting service sustainability. Further studies are recommended to form guidance towards the development and implementation of interventions to improve service delivery.Contribution: Provision of continual training and increased staffing of healthcare personnel will help improve the sustainability of the labour epidural service.

Background:  Self-directed simulation learning (SSL) is a globally accepted teaching and learning strategy wherein student nurses take the initiative in diagnosing their learning needs, formulate learning goals, identify resources for learning, and implement relevant strategies in response to their learning needs. This autonomous learning strategy will assist student nurses in taking ownership of their learning. Consequently, student nurses exit the training programme to become lifelong learners, safe and competent professional nurses.

Objectives:  This study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of student nurses' utilisation of SSL at a University in Gauteng and to make recommendation(s) to enhance the use of SSL.

Method:  A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was used to uncover the student nurses' experiences with the use of SSL at a University. Nineteen participants were purposively sampled. Data collection was conducted through focus group interviews. Tesch's method of data analysis was used to analyse, organise and interpret data.

Results:  Theme: student nurses experience time constraints, which hinder their utilisation of SSL. Subthemes: (1) a compacted academic timetable, and (2) limited access to the clinical simulation laboratory for self-directed learning.

Conclusion:  Time constraints hinder the utilisation of SSL, and this challenge threatens the acquisition of clinical skills and knowledge during the training of student nurses.Contribution: Evidence-based recommendations to enhance the utilisation of SSL at a University.

Background:  Family involvement in mental health care is a therapeutic intervention in the management of mental illness. The global concern in long-term mental health is that families find it difficult to accept mental illness when their loved ones are admitted to receive care, treatment and rehabilitation.

Objectives:  To describe nurses' perceptions of involving family members in the care of mental health care users in long-term institutions.

Method:  A quantitative descriptive design was used. The population comprised nurses working at three mental health institutions (MHIs). Probability simple random sampling was used to select 360 respondents. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires.

Results:  The findings revealed that most (86.9%) of the nurses acknowledged that challenges affect families' involvement in mental health care. A total of 91.4% of nurses complained that family members' involvement was insufficient and (80.6%) indicated that poor family contact affects the provision of quality mental health care. Therefore, the respondents believed that the families' involvement has an impact on the management of mental illness.

Conclusion:  Engaging family members in mental health care helps both health professionals and families to participate in patient-centred care and mental health care services. However, MHCUs benefit when their families are involved.Contribution: The study contributed to mental health nursing as its results can be used to measure the quality of health services improvements, by involving the family members during hospitalisation of their loved ones for mental health care.

Background:  Blended learning combines face-to-face and online learning and has recently gained popularity, accelerated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, often without active evaluation.

Objectives:  This study aimed to assess university nursing students' perceptions of a blended learning approach during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method:  The population was 150 third-year nursing students from a university in the Western Cape, South Africa, using all-inclusive sampling. A one-group, pre-and post-evaluation study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire (Student Perceptions of Blended Learning scale). Differences were assessed using Chi-squared and Mann-Whitney U tests with a significance level of p  0.05.

Results:  Before implementing blended learning, 128 students (85.3%) completed the questionnaire, while 95 (63.3%) did so after. Demographics and access showed no significant differences between the groups. Post-implementation showed a 10.1% increase in preference for blended learning (χ2 = 2.832, p = 0.092). Ease of use was rated significantly higher before implementation (3.07 ± 0.49), with no significant change post-implementation (2.99 ± 0.58). The blended learning process received lower ratings compared to content, with no significant differences before or after implementation for either (process: 2.55 ± 0.58 vs 2.54 ± 0.63; content: 2.75 ± 0.52 vs 2.79 ± 0.52).

Conclusion:  Nursing students had a positive perception of blended learning, though the online learning component posed challenges with time and module comprehension.Contribution: The findings can help higher education institutions evaluate existing online management systems and guide nurse educators in meeting students' needs when developing module resources.