M.Cur. (Nursing Management) / Motivation is a process that influence and directs behaviour in order to satisfy a need. Motivation of nurses is important in the primary health care environment since low levels of motivation among Primary Health Care (PHC) nurses; who are in a critical position in health service delivery; could have a negative impact on the achievement of high standards in the nursing profession. This situation is also relevant in a mine clinic setting. The main factor in motivating nurses may be a sense of success. However, levels of stimulation and individual requirements also significantly influence the motivation of a person. As a manager at a mine clinic setting, the researcher became aware; by means of staff progress reports and performance appraisals; that PHC nurses (professional nurses) were demotivated. The research questions were therefore posed: - What are the motivational needs of PHC nurses in the workplace at mine clinic settings? - What should be done to assist these nurses to acquire motivation in the work place? Therefore, it was imperative to explore and describe the motivational needs of PHC nurses in their work place and to describe recommendations for nurse managers at a mine clinic setting to motivate PHC nurses. The study was conducted within the theoretical framework of McClelland’s Acquired Motivation Theory that consists of three basic needs, i.e. the need for achievement, the need for power, and the need for affiliation. A quantitative, explorative, descriptive design was followed and the researcher used a structured questionnaire to explore the perceptions of PHC nurses about their needs to acquire motivation in their workplace. The accessible population in this study was PHC nurses (N = 30) working at the 13 mine clinics. The accessible population served as the total sample.