A lesão nasal decorrente do uso da ventilação não invasiva (VNI) é um evento adverso cada vez mais comum nas unidades de terapia intensiva neonatais (UTIN) e apresenta consequências a curto e longo prazo. Esta lesão pode resultar em sequelas tanto de ordem estética quanto funcional, limitar o uso da VNI em RN que necessita desse suporte ventilatório, causar desconforto e septicemia; podendo aumentar, desta forma, o tempo de internamento na UTIN. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo avaliar tecnológica e clinicamente os protetores nasais empregados na VNI de RN internados na UTIN. A metodologia consistiu primeiramente em levantar as possíveis causas da lesão nasal e avaliar os fatores de risco associados ao seu desenvolvimento. Em seguida, foi realizado um ensaio clínico randomizado para comparar os efeitos de três tipos de proteção nasal e das prongas novas e esterilizadas sobre a gravidade da lesão nasal. E por fim, foi realizada a caracterização térmica e estrutural dos protetores nasais após serem envelhecidas com temperatura e umidade no interior da incubadora neonatal. As principais causas da lesão foram relacionadas às características do material, a problemas no equipamento, a fatores assistenciais, neonatais e profissionais. Neste estudo, foram constatados como fatores de risco: a idade gestacional, a massa ao nascer, o tempo total de permanência na VNI, a reutilização deste suporte, o tempo da primeira utilização e da reutilização da VNI, bem como o tempo de internação na UTIN. Não foram observadas diferenças significativas na gravidade da lesão quando comparadas as três proteções estudadas, nem quando utilizadas prongas novas e esterilizadas. Quanto à análise dos materiais, foi constatado que a exposição à temperatura e à umidade alterou a percentagem de cristalinidade e a rugosidade das proteções nasais estudadas. / The nasal injury resulting from the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is an adverse event increasingly common in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) and shows the short and long term consequences. This lesion can result both aesthetic and functional sequelae, limit the use of NIV in newborns who need this ventilatory support, cause discomfort and septicemia, may thereby increase the length of stay in NICU. This research aims to evaluate technological and clinically nasal protectors used with NIV of newborns admitted to the NICU. The methodology consisted primarily in raising the possible causes of nasal injury and assess the risk factors associated with its development. Then, it was conducted a randomized clinical trial to compare the effects of three kind of nasal protector and new and sterilized prongs on the severity of nasal lesions. And finally, it was performed the thermal and structural characterization of nasal protection after being aged with temperature and humidity inside the neonatal incubator. The main causes of injury were related to characteristics of the material, equipment problems, assistive, neonatal and professional factors. In this study, it was found as risk factors: gestational age, weight at birth, the total time stay in the NIV, the reuse of this support, the time of first use and reuse of NIV and the length of stay in the NICU. They were not observed significant differences in lesion severity when compared the three protectors studied, nor when used new and sterilized prongs. The materials analysis indicated that exposure to temperature and humidity changed the percentage of crystallinity and the roughness of the nasal protections studied.

Department of Advanced Nursing Science / MCur

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Background: Perinatal and neonatal mortality rates remain high in South Africa especially in rural areas and townships where the majority of poor people live. With regard to perinatal and neonatal mortality, South Africa like many other developing countries has failed to achieve MDG 4 and 5 by 2015 regardless of many efforts by the governments. To achieve the SDG which replaced MDGs for child health, it is necessary for the South African public and private health care to reduce substantially perinatal and new born deaths, particularly in rural areas. There are many factors that contribute to a high perinatal mortality rate in public hospitals in rural areas. To understand these factors, a study was conducted with midwives from selected public hospitals in Limpopo, Vhembe district which experiences the highest perinatal mortality rates in South Africa. Purpose and methodology: The purpose of this research study was to assess factors contributing to high perinatal mortality rates in the selected public hospitals in Vhembe district. A quantitative, descriptive, exploratory and cross-sectional design was used to collect data from the sampled hospitals in the Vhembe district. Hospitals were purposively sampled based on the statistics of monthly deliveries. The target population consisted of all registered midwives who had been working in the maternity units for at least two years. Cochrane's formula was used to determine the sample from the target population for each hospital. A random sample of 110 respondents was selected upon which a questionnaire was administered to each by the researcher. Responses from the close-ended and open-ended questions was grouped and analysed quantitatively by means of Statistical Package for Social Sciences 23.0 (SPSS). Results and findings: Results were presented in frequency tables and graphs revealed that most of the midwives lacked knowledge and skills in a number of key areas needed for them to operate efficiently in the maternity wards. There was also high staff turnover which led to a few midwives being overworked. The utilisation of guidelines and protocols in maternity was left to individual midwives as the hospitals did not evaluate the use of it. Conclusions: Lack of key skills in assisting women in labour, and poor use of guidelines and understaffing were the main contributing factors to high perinatal mortality rates in the selected public hospitals of Vhembe district. Midwife attitudes were not a contributory factor. / NRF

A qualitative research design that is explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature was employed in order to understand and describe the professional nurses' perception of the implementation of a quality circles programme in a public hospital in the Eastern Cape Province and to develop guidelines for the implementation of a quality circles programme in public hospitals. The data-collection techniques were individual semi-structured interviews and field notes. The sample was drawn from a population of 425 Xhosa-speaking professional nurses employed in this institution. The sample comprised eight (8) professional nurses all of whom volunteered for in-depth individual semi-structured interviews. All the respondents answered one question "How do you perceive the implementation of the quality circles programme in your hospital?" During data collection and analysis only one theme emerged, namely the perception of quality circles as a forum for discussing patient care problems and future plans. There were four broad categories in this theme, namely  Staff empowerment  Teambuilding in the nursing discipline  Maintenance of standards by nurses  Challenges to the momentum of a quality circles programme It is recommended that all three tiers of nursing management be involved in the quality circles programme to improve interpersonal, interdepartmental and intradepartmental communication and concomitantly the nursing care. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Introduction: Du fait des faibles résultats enregistrés par différents systèmes de santé dans le monde, la conférence d'Alma Ata de 1978 avait préconisé l’approche des Soins de Santé Primaires. Pour renforcer cette approche et faciliter l’accessibilité universelle aux soins, l’Initiative de Bamako fut adoptée en 1987. Cette initiative se fonde sur la participation financière des patients aux soins. L'une des conséquences est le coût financier des soins pour les bénéficiaires avec un risque d'exclusion de certains patients. Mais l’Initiative de Bamako suggère les dispositions à prendre pour éviter l'exclusion des indigents. Au Bénin, les comités de gestion des centres de santé ont la responsabilité de veiller à l'accès aux soins des indigents. Mais malgré cela, la prise en charge des indigents n’est pas effective. Les professionnels de la santé se plaignent de ne pas disposer de critères d'identification des indigents. Sur cette base, l'identification des indigents constitue la pierre angulaire de leur prise en charge. En conséquence, la mise en place d'une stratégie opérationnelle fondée sur l'identification des indigents par les personnes ressources de la communauté et soutenue par un outil quantitatif d'identification, permet une identification fiable des indigents en vue de leur prise en charge sanitaire. <p>Méthode: Après un état des lieux de la situation des indigents dans le système de santé au Bénin, trois études ont été réalisées pour approfondir la question des indigents; <p>•\ / Doctorat en Sciences de la santé publique / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

A qualitative research design that is explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature was employed in order to understand and describe the professional nurses' perception of the implementation of a quality circles programme in a public hospital in the Eastern Cape Province and to develop guidelines for the implementation of a quality circles programme in public hospitals. The data-collection techniques were individual semi-structured interviews and field notes. The sample was drawn from a population of 425 Xhosa-speaking professional nurses employed in this institution. The sample comprised eight (8) professional nurses all of whom volunteered for in-depth individual semi-structured interviews. All the respondents answered one question "How do you perceive the implementation of the quality circles programme in your hospital?" During data collection and analysis only one theme emerged, namely the perception of quality circles as a forum for discussing patient care problems and future plans. There were four broad categories in this theme, namely &#61558; Staff empowerment &#61558; Teambuilding in the nursing discipline &#61558; Maintenance of standards by nurses &#61558; Challenges to the momentum of a quality circles programme It is recommended that all three tiers of nursing management be involved in the quality circles programme to improve interpersonal, interdepartmental and intradepartmental communication and concomitantly the nursing care. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Text in English / Interactive health communication between the health-care professional (HCP) and patient relationship for diabetes health-care positively contributes to patient-centred care. Hence individual patient concerns are addressed and catered for in the medical system. The purpose of this study was to analyse in-depth how HCP-patient relationships and HCP-HCP teamwork dynamics positively contribute to effective diabetes patient care and treatment adherence. Different health communication models and theories were reviewed and a conceptual framework was developed from the literature. A qualitative case study approach was used to collect data at Stanger Hospital’s diabetes clinic. Data was collected using three different methods, namely in-depth interviews with HCPs and patients individually, observations conducted at the clinic analysing both the HCPs and patients, and finally, documentation that emerged as a third data collection method where patient files and diabetes educational material were analysed at the clinic. Triangulation by means of the three methods ensured that reliable, valid and credible data was collected in the field. Diabetes health-care and treatment management are affected by the social context/social system which includes family and culture. These social factors are acknowledged as core in the literature. However, a single comprehensive health communication model did not exist solely in this regard. The data indicated that at the Stanger Hospital’s diabetes clinic, patient-centred (individual tailor-made treatment plans) care was only implemented after patients had defaulted treatment for reasons linked to their social circumstances. The findings of the study indicate that teamwork was favoured in the HCP-HCP relationship at the diabetes clinic, and that this made a positive contribution to effective diabetes patient care. HCPs were overburdened at the clinic since patient numbers were high and there were staff shortages. The patients’ empirical data indicated that interactive communication positively contributed to their medical concerns being catered for at the diabetes clinic, but this tended to occur only after non-adherence. Patients required care and support from HCPs in order to learn to accept diabetes and manage their illness. / Sociology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)