Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture: Professional)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2012. / The proposal for a mental wellness facility is intended to act as a mechanism through which the intellectually disabled can be accepted into a community.

Submitted in fulfillment of requirements for the Degree of Master of Technology: Nursing, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Introducion Mental health nurses face challenging positions in practice. They are required to support and care for people hospitalised for treatment of mental illnesses on their recovery journeys but are also expected to manage ward administrative tasks, admit patients, attend meetings, dispense medication and communicate with patients (Gunasekara, Pentland, Rodgers and Patterson 2014: 101; Fourie, Mc Donald, Connor and Bartlett 2005: 135). It has been suggested that mental health nurses spend more time managing the ward environment and staff matters resulting in little time to develop and maintain therapeutic patient relationships (Fourie et al. 2005: 135). Problem Statement Research conducted in other countries identified the roles of the psychiatric nurse and mental health care nurses as attending to patients’ basic needs, assistance with self-care activities, monitoring and administering medication, ensuring safe environments in the health care setting and health education (Rungapadiachy, Madill and Gough 2004; Bowers 2005; Seed, Torkelson and Alnatour 2010). Although there is evidence of studies in psychiatric and mental health nursing locally, little is known about the roles of registered nurses and psychiatric nurses at in-patient facilities. OBJECTIVES • To explore which mental health problems are most commonly seen amongst psychiatric patients at these facilities. • To investigate the challenges faced by psychiatric nurses when caring for psychiatric patients. • To investigate what specialized knowledge and skills are required when nursing such patients. • To investigate whether their education and training prepared them adequately to deal with psychiatric patients and suggest guidelines to strengthen nursing education. METHODOLOGY The study utilized a quantitative non-experimental descriptive design to survey registered nurses and psychiatric nurses at in-patient psychiatric facilities in KwaZulu-Natal. A census was utilized in this study as the entire population was sampled. Data were collected using survey questionnaires. Phase two of the study, qualitative content analysis of Psychiatric nursing curricula strengthened the survey findings. FINDINGS Findings of this study showed that 98.4% of respondents believe psychiatric nursing care is an important aspect of holistic nursing practice. Respondents agree that challenges are commonly encountered in psychiatric nursing practice and that they are prepared to deal with these patients. However the aspects most frequently identified as needing greater attention in the Psychiatric nursing curricula were The Mental Health Care Act no 17 of 2002 and practical management of aggression, violence and de-escalation / M

Department of Advanced Nursing Science / MCur

PhD (Nursing Science) / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / State patients are admitted to the psychiatric hospital after being declared as such by a court of law in South Africa. After successful rehabilitation of state patients at the psychiatric hospital, they need to be reintegrated into their families. Perceptions of family members of male state patients regarding reintegration including development of a model to support such reintegration, is not largely explored in the scientific body of knowledge. The aim of this study was to develop a model to support reintegration of state patients into their families in Limpopo Province, South Africa. A qualitative approach using descriptive, explorative, and contextual designs was adopted for this study. The study population was family members whose relatives are male state patients admitted and recorded in the admission register of Hayani Hospital, in Limpopo Province. The study was conducted in two phases of which phase one was a situational analysis, and phase two was the development of the model to reintegrate male state patients into their families. This study was conceptualized within the Social Ecological Model (SEM) of human behaviour (Stokols, 2013), the grounded theory for model development outlined in Dickoff et al. (1968), and the approaches outlined in Chinn and Kramer (2008); Walker and Avant (1995). Model evaluation was done by a group of health professionals, some of whom are advanced psychiatric nurses who are doing masters and doctoral studies, and one doctoral graduate who is also an advanced psychiatric nurse. Presentations were made to this group during peer review sessions who in turn gave critical comments regarding the developed model to support reintegration of male state patients until the final model was accepted. Non-probability purposive and convenient sampling were used to sample a hospital and 10 family members of Venda-speaking male state patients. In-depth individual interviews were used as the instrument to collect data which was pretested on one family member who did not form part of the study. Data was analysed using thematic analysis approach. Data was co-coded by an independent doctoral degree graduate to ensure trustworthiness. Conducting home visits by health professionals came up strongly during data analysis. Credibility, dependability, confirmability and transferability to ensure trustworthiness of the study, as well as ethical considerations were adhered to. The findings of the study yielded two themes, being perceptions of participants regarding reintegration of male state patients, and perceptions of participants regarding the support needed from family members to reintegrate male state patients. During phase one, the results indicated that family members accept reintegration and also that they indicated the kind of support needed, that lead to phase two of developing a model to reintegrate male state patients. The study was restricted to only one hospital in the Vhembe District out of the five districts of the Limpopo Province.The researcher acknowledges that this study was contextual and that only family members of male state patients were interviewed, the perceptions of family members of female state patients were not heard. The study concluded that there are perceptions that family members of male state patients have regarding reintegration of these patients into their families. Furthermore, family members of male state patients can describe the kind of support that they need in order to reintegrate male state patients into their families. This should be done using the developed model that should involve family members and the community. The study recommends that psychiatric hospitals should implement the model involving family members of male state patients. Furthermore, a longitudinal study should be conducted for a period of 3-5 years to check the effectiveness of the model. / NRF

MCur / Departrment of Advanced Nursing Science / In mental health, a Maximum-Security Ward is a special setting for care of patients who are unique and exceptional. People who have committed crimes due to their mental conditions are admitted for care, treatment and rehabilitation. Patients admitted in this ward are verbally and physically aggressive, violent, unpredictable, unmanageable and at times manipulative. Professional nurses working in the Maximum-Security Ward are at risk of suffering from occupational stress, burnout, lack motivation and are anxious. The aim of this study is to investigate the experiences of professional nurses working in the Maximum-Security Ward at Hayani hospital. A qualitative approach using a descriptive, exploratory and contextual design was used. A purposive, convenient sampling was used to sample professional nurses working in the Maximum-Security Ward of Hayani hospital. In-depth interviews were used to collect data. A voice recorder was utilised to record all data and the researcher being the main instrument for data collection. Dependability, confirmability and transferability were upheld to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Data was analysed using Tech’s eight steps approach. Three themes with their categories and subcategories emerged after data analysis. The themes were as follows: the participants’ views on type of patients admitted in the ward, participants’ views on safety in the ward and participants’ views on staff interaction. The study recommended the following: Emotional counselling and debriefing sessions to be conducted at regular intervals or after a traumatic incident. Motivational and team building activities to be organised for professional nurses. Safety of professional nurses must be of significant value. More support is needed in times of emotional difficulties. Development of a model to support professional nurses. / NRF