The aim of this study was to investigate vicarious trauma experienced by caregivers working with children in residential care, who were victims of sexual abuse or assault. The objectives of the study were to determine the occurrence of vicarious trauma among caregivers working with victims of sexual abuse or assault / to describe the experiences of caregivers working with children who were victims of sexual abuse / to describe the caregiver's experience of staff support within the facility.

The objective of this study was to explore clients' perceptions and expectations of therapeutic interaction with nurses at Escoval House Community Psychiatric Clinic in Durban. Following the shift of psychiatric care from institutionalised care to community based psychiatric care, it was anticipated that the findings of the study would help to sensitise the primary health care nurses and community psychiatric nurses on how clients perceive the way nurses interact with them. This would help the nurses to ensure satisfactory interactions that would be therapeutic and enhances clients' recovery and well -being. The study utilized Human Relations Counselling Model in exploring the clients' perceptions. An exploratory descriptive survey was used to conduct the study, The study combined both qualitative and quantitative methods for the purpose of triangulation. Ten participants were involved in a focus group and one-hundred and sixty clients participated by filling in questionnaires. Simple random sampling method was used to select participants for both the focus group interview and those who filled in the questionnaires. Data from the focus group was analysed manually using content analysis. Data was presented by participants' direct quotes. Data from the questionnaires was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). For the quantitative data analysis, frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the data. Findings of the study were presented in tables and graphs. Although previous studies on clients' satisfaction have reported clients' satisfaction with mental health service delivery, the findings of this study have revealed that gaps still exist in quality of care delivered to these clients. Findings show that there were mixed perceptions on the way nurse interact with clients during clients' monthly attendances. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The aim of this study was to investigate vicarious trauma experienced by caregivers working with children in residential care, who were victims of sexual abuse or assault. The objectives of the study were to determine the occurrence of vicarious trauma among caregivers working with victims of sexual abuse or assault / to describe the experiences of caregivers working with children who were victims of sexual abuse / to describe the caregiver's experience of staff support within the facility.

M.Cur. (Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing) / Injuries suffered by nursing personnel as a result of aggression by mental health care users are on the increase. The psychiatric nurses and assistant nurses working in a psychiatric institution may suffer physical trauma, which gets healed over time with proper treatment, but the emotional scars are not attended to, hence some of the psychiatric nurses and assistant nurses working in a psychiatric institution do not cope. The impact of this trend is enormous and it is reflected in the health care service. The main purpose of this research study is to explore and describe the experiences of psychiatric nurses and assistant nurses who have been exposed to aggression by mental health care users while working in a psychiatric institution, in order to formulate guidelines to promote the mental health of these psychiatric and assistant nurses to. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was utilised in this study. There were two phases to the research, whereby phase one included the description and exploration of experiences of nurses who have been exposed to aggression by mental health care users in a public psychiatric hospital in Gauteng. In phase two, guidelines were formulated to promote the mental health of the nurses in this context. A purposive sampling method was used, since it provides information-rich cases for in-depth study. One-on-one in-depth phenomenological interviews were utilised to gather data. Lincoln and Guba’s approach to trustworthiness was adopted, and I employed the services of an independent coder - an experienced psychiatric nursing specialist - to assist. Thereafter a consensus discussion was held. Ethical principles were adhered to throughout the study. The findings of the research were discussed in the light of literature relevant to this research study and similar studies will be used to verify the findings. Tesch’s method of data analysis was utilised in analysing the data of this research study. The findings revealed that participants experience significant emotional distress as a result of both verbal and physical aggression by mental health care users. Aggressive behaviour was recognised by the participants as being the outcome of interplay between numerous interactional and contextual factors. Participants may at times, experience conflict between their job mandate – to care for the mental health care users – and their need for personal safety. This often results in a sense of ambivalence towards those they care for, as well as towards their job. The participants were of the opinion that they should be offered counselling or debriefing services by management after exposure to aggressive incidents in order to recuperate from the anxiety-provoking situation they encountered. They also mentioned that they do not receive enough training in handling aggressive mental health care users, hence at times they feel demotivated. Guidelines to facilitate the mental health of nursing personnel who have been exposed to aggression by mental health care users, were formulated and recommendations were made to psychiatric nursing practice, psychiatric nursing education and psychiatric research. Evaluation of the study was done and the role of an advanced psychiatric nurse in mobilising resources to facilitate the mental health of psychiatric nurses and assistant nurses working in a psychiatric institution who have been exposed to aggression by mental health care users, was outlined.

After 1994 with the inception of the South African Democratic Government, the health care delivery system was one of the areas that had to be reviewed. The vehicle for a comprehensive health care system was based on primary health care which encouraged people and patients to take responsibility for their health by being involved in all aspects of their care. For this purpose the Batho Pele principles were introduced, a concept which is informed by 8 principles, namely: consultation, service standards, access, courtesy, information, openness and transparency, redress and value for money. These principles are meant to restore the dignity and the rights of patients which are paramount in the Constitution of South Africa. (Constitution of South Africa 108 of 1996 Chapter 2) The nurses claim that since the introduction of the Batho Pele Principles, patients and their families have been “impossible” towards nurses, making unnecessary and sometimes impossible demands. The nurses also experience patients and their families as being informed of their “rights” but not of their responsibilities as patients. They were also unaware of the rights of the nurses. The objectives of the study were:- To explore and describe the experiences of professional nurses working in the outpatient departments of the introduction of the Batho Pele principles in state hospitals, and to Recommend guidelines that will enhance better understanding and implementation of the Batho Pele principles by the professional nurses. The study is founded on a qualitative research paradigm based on explorative, descriptive and contextual framework. The data was collected from focus groups from each hospital of the Port Elizabeth Hospital Complex. Each group consisted of four to six willing participants all of them were professional nurses who have worked at least five or more years in the outpatient department of the Port Elizabeth Hospital Complex. Data was collected via semi-structured audio-taped interviews together with the researcher’s field notes. Data analysis was done using Tesch’s data analysis spiral. The assistance of independent coder reinforced the truth value of the findings. Themes and subthemes emerged from the data that was collected and revealed that the professional nurses experienced that the Batho Pele Principles as a good policy, but that it was difficulty to uphold due to inadequate planning of health services prior to implementation of the Batho Pele Principles. They experience not getting from their management and they also experience that there was lack of discipline in their institutions. Based on these findings, guidelines that will recommend better implementation of the Batho Pele Principles by nurses were compiled by the researcher and future research in this regard was recommended.

A quantitative, descriptive and exploratory study was undertaken. The purpose was to explore and describe the perceptions of hypertensive patients regarding hypertension support groups in Carletonville District in order to make recommendations based on the research findings that could lead to improvement of the quality of management of hypertensive patients. The study included 350 hypertensive patients who agreed to participate voluntarily in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analysed by computer. The findings revealed that the hypertension support group had strengths and weaknesses. The strengths included providing moral support, health education and a sense of belonging. The weaknesses identified were prolonged support group sessions, domination by other group members and unresolved conflicts. Some patients could not attend the support group sessions regularly because of transport problems and employment. Other respondents felt that the nurse who facilitated the support group did not respect their cultural beliefs. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

A quantitative, descriptive and exploratory study was undertaken. The purpose was to explore and describe the perceptions of hypertensive patients regarding hypertension support groups in Carletonville District in order to make recommendations based on the research findings that could lead to improvement of the quality of management of hypertensive patients. The study included 350 hypertensive patients who agreed to participate voluntarily in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data, which was analysed by computer. The findings revealed that the hypertension support group had strengths and weaknesses. The strengths included providing moral support, health education and a sense of belonging. The weaknesses identified were prolonged support group sessions, domination by other group members and unresolved conflicts. Some patients could not attend the support group sessions regularly because of transport problems and employment. Other respondents felt that the nurse who facilitated the support group did not respect their cultural beliefs. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Patient safety is a primary concern of members of the surgical team. Professional nurses working in the operating room play a vital role in the safety of the patients from the moment the patient enters the operating room to the discharge of the patient to the unit. Quality nursing care is of the utmost importance and therefore it is the responsibility of a professional nurse to ensure patient safety during the peri-operative period. Team work and good communication in the operating room are essential in order to ensure patient safety. Nursing care practices related to patient safety should be a key aspect to consider in rendering care to the surgical patient and professional nurses should perform their duties to the best of their ability despite lack of resources and shortage of staff. The main purpose of the study was to explore and describe nursing care practice related to patient safety in the operating room at hospitals in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area. Once this was established recommendations on how to enhance nursing care practice related to patient safety in the operating room were made. This study is based on a quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design. Convenient sampling was used in this study. Data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Ethical considerations were adhered to and the findings of the research will be disseminated appropriately. Recommendations based on the findings that emerge from the data, as well as the literature review, will be offered to enhance nursing care practice related to patient safety in the operating room.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) have brought about a global epidemic far more extensive than was predicted even a decade ago (van Rensburg, 2002:1). South Africa has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world (South African Department of Health, 2000: 5), it still increase yearly. Before a vaccine and/or effective treatment become available, effective education and information campaigns are necessary for preventing the spreading of HIV and AIDS (WHO (the World Health Organization), 1988:21). According to WHO and ICN (International Council of Nurses) (1988:12), Nurses can play a pivotal role in the education of patients, their families and friends with regard to the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission, so as to control the spread of this disease. In South Africa, more than 60 percent of the healthcare human resources comprise professional nursing practitioners (Muller, 2002: 95). Therefore, the education and training of nurses is one of the effective methods to preventing further spread of HIV and AIDS infection in South Africa. Accordingly, nurses need to reduce both personal and occupational risk of becoming infected with HIV themselves, as well as provide education to patients and their families. Before effective and efficient in-service education guidelines on the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission can be developed, any knowledge deficit and negative attitudes of registered nurses regarding the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission should be identified. Thus, it is important to survey the knowledge and attitudes of nurses in healthcare institutions related to the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission. The main goal of the study was to explore and describe the knowledge and attitudes of registered nurses in public hospitals related to the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission. The secondary objective was to develop in-service education guidelines for registered nurses in public hospitals to optimise both personal and occupational prevention measures relating to HIV and AIDS transmission. The research was conducted using a quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design. The purposive sampling method was used to select the participants and a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. This data was analysed by inferential statistics and descriptive statistics and areas of deficits concerning knowledge and negative attitudes were identified. In this study there were deficits concerning the knowledge and negative attitudes regarding the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission to a greater or lesser degree in all the subgroups of the questionnaire. In general, the registered nurses with the attendance of HIV and AIDS training program, experience in caring for HIV and AIDS patients made the level of certain knowledge related to the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission different; Working experience as a registered nurses and the attendance of HIV and AIDS training programmes did not make attitudes towards the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission significantly different. The registered nurses with experience of caring for HIV and AIDS patients had more positive attitudes than those without the experience. This information was used to compile in-service education guidelines for registered nurses concerning the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission. The in-service education guidelines will be given to clinical facilitators at public hospitals. It is envisaged that this will guide them as to what to include in their in-service education programmes concerning the prevention of HIV and AIDS transmission for registered nurses.

The study explored the experiences of nurses regarding in-patients who attempt or succeed in committing suicide in a general hospital. The purpose of the study was to design support guidelines for the nurses who care for patients who attempt or successfully commit suicide whilst admitted at general hospital. A generic qualitative research approach was followed, using an exploratory and descriptive design. Data was collected through in-depth interviews from a purposive sample of six nurses who met the inclusion criteria. Content data analysis was done. The research findings revealed five themes. The findings indicate that the working environment was not safe for both the nurses and the patients; confused patients were unpredictable and withheld their intentions of suicide from the nurses. Nurses blamed themselves for in-patient suicide; as some are still living with feelings of guilt. Nurse unit managers provided support to the affected nurses; however debriefing sessions were not given to the affected employees. There were no clear guidelines on management of confused patients. Support guidelines for the nurses are presented in this study / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)