The researcher used the integration of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The respondents were drawn from three district, one regional, one academic and two private hospitals. Data was collected by means of questionnaires. The open-ended questions in the questionnaire allowed the respondents to respond in their own words (“etic” description). This enhanced the organisation and reduction of the relevant data for analysis as well as the validity and trustworthiness of the study. The study revealed that even though most of the South African government health policies were very advanced and among the best in the world, some crucial policies appeared to have encountered problems with implementation, from conflicting ideologies and opinions from hospital management, different unions, professional associations, the provincial government, the South African Nursing Council (SANC) and patients. Too many groups appeared to have discussed nurses‟ issues with government and made decisions for nurses, leaving nurses disillusioned. The majority of the respondents attributed this to poor representation at government level. Furthermore, some decisions, resolutions and strategies agreed upon between the unions and bargaining councils appeared to have worked against nurses, further dividing RNs and failing to accomplish the intended purpose. Although most of the respondents had hoped that the Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD) for nurses would address chronic low salaries for all nurses in the PHS, it favoured certain specialty qualifications (which were based on the description of post-basic courses in R212 and R48, which were not clearly delineated). In addition, RNs were not informed about the meaning and implications of the OSD prior to implementation. The study thus found an information gap between government and RNs at the production level, which appeared not to be with the government and the nurses, but in between. Most importantly, nurses seemed to be represented more by unions to government and bargaining councils, as opposed to nurses, while most of the respondents did not favour the division of nurses between professional associations and unions. Decisions in the PHS appeared to have been dominated by leaders who had no experience with pragmatic issues of health care services (HCS), particularly at the operational level, and the dynamics of the nursing profession. The study therefore concluded that, if the right people (nurses, doctors and systems) were put in place, and nurses were represented by nurses at government level, bargaining councils and parliament, discontent among RNs in the PHS could be reduced significantly. Existing strategies were found to deal with the symptoms and not the root cause of discontent among RNs in the PHS. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe communication effectiveness and communication satisfaction experienced by professional nurses in selected public health care services. Quantitative, explorative and descriptive research was conducted to determine the communication effectiveness and levels of communication satisfaction. The Downs and Adrian (2004) structured questionnaire was adapted and used to collect the data. The study population consisted of three groups of professional nurses, namely nurse managers (n=18), operational managers (n=22) and professional nurses (n=90). The study highlighted areas of effective and ineffective communication, as well as areas of communication satisfaction and dissatisfaction, among professional nurses. The findings revealed that although professional nurses are satisfied with their supervisor-subordinate communication, they are dissatisfied with personal feedback between all categories of professional nurses. Recommendations for the improvement of the communication effectiveness and communication satisfaction of professional nurses are aimed at creating an organisational atmosphere conducive to two-way communication. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

South Africa is called "the rainbow nation" because it has so many different cultures. These have an impact on the provision of primary health care. The purpose of this research is to foster good relationships between community health nurses and traditional healers and to explore, identify and describe the attitude of community health nurses towards the integration of traditional healers into primary health care. A non-experimental, explorative and descriptive research strategy was designed to explore the working relationship between community health nurses and traditional healers. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Quantitative as well as qualitative data analysis techniques were adopted to interpret the findings. The results indicated that respondents demonstrated positive attitudes towards working with traditional healers, especially in the provision of primary health care. Positive opinions, ideas and views were provided about the integration of traditional healers into primary health care. Respect, recognition and sensitivity were emphasized by respondents. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

Despite the many changes that have occurred in South Africa since the end of apartheid, there are still residual effects of it, as is evidenced in the disparity of living conditions between different racial groups. It is also evident that there are differences in the work tasks and working conditions of nurses working in different work environments. This project looks at how living conditions as well as working conditions interactively affect the health, subjective well-being, and work ability of nurses. Questionnaires were completed by, and interviews were conducted with nurses from Settlers Hospital and seven municipal clinics within Grahamstown (n=152). The participation rate was approximately 71%. The questionnaires included self-report, forced-choice questions regarding basic demographics of the nurses, work conditions, living conditions, subjective satisfaction levels, as well as a simplified version of the Nordic Questionnaire of Musculoskeletal Strain (Kuorinka et al., 1987), and the Work Ability Index (WAI) (Tuomi et al., 2006). The questionnaires were translated into Afrikaans and IsiXhosa. One-on-one interviews were conducted with the participants, in order to obtain a 24-hour dietary recall, an indication of physical activity levels, as well as measurements of stature, mass, waist girth and hip girth. Factor analysis was performed to identify common variance from amongst the variables, while canonical correlations examined the interaction between the sets of factors. It was found that variables relating to demographic factors, living conditions, and working conditions were closely linked to each other. Factors from each of these groups were associated with life, health, and job satisfaction, anthropometric measures, musculoskeletal strain, and WAI scores. Satisfaction levels appeared to be largely determined by socioeconomic status, while anthropometrics, WAI scores, and levels of musculoskeletal strain were associated with levels of smoking and drinking, race, age, stature, position and tenure.

Wendel (1994, p. 91) defined perceived organizational support (POS) as “organization support in terms of all things that relate to assistance and relationships amongst working peers and colleagues, which involve the feeling of need between superiors and subordinates . Rothbard (2001, p. 656) in defining job engagement (JE) listed two components which he thought were critical for its effectiveness on organizational functioning: (i) attention and (ii) absorption, with the former referring to “cognitive ability and the amount of time one spends thinking about the role”, while the latter “means being engrossed in a role and means the intensity of one’s focus on a role”. Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) was first introduced by Organ in the 1980s and he defined the concept of organizational citizenship behavior “as discretionary behaviors by individuals (employees) that do not form part of formal requirements of a job, but are necessary and promote effective functioning of the organization (Organ, 1988)”. The objective of study was to explore the relationship between perceived organizational support and job engagement and their effect organizational citizenship behavior. Other relationships that were tested were first, the direct relationship between POS JE. Secondly, the combined effect of POS and JE on OCB. The study was conducted amongst nurses at Victoria hospital, in Alice within the Nkonkobe district municipality. The results showed a significant relationship between JE and OCB, whilst the relationship between POS and OCB was not accepted. The results for the other two hypotheses that were tested; (i) relationship between POS and JE, (ii) combined effect of POS and JE on OCB also showed that they were not accepted. The consistency scores for these variables were of international level (n=106). The Pearson correlation coefficients were used for hypothesis testing.

Within the nursing profession, the transition from the student to a graduate nurse is a common rite of passage that marks the end of initial educational preparation in the discipline and the beginning of a professional journey as a nurse and a member of the multidisciplinary team (Nash, Lemcke & Sacre. 2009:48). This is a period of adjustment, stress, growth and development and the transitional nurse is likely to feel uncomfortable, fearful and may experience feelings of inadequacy. This study was undertaken to explore and describe the experiences of final year nursing students at a public college of nursing in the Eastern Cape regarding their preparedness to become registered nurses, with the aim to identify gaps and make recommendations on strategies to close the gaps. The objectives were to explore and describe the experiences of final year nursing students at the public college of nursing in the Eastern Cape Province with regard to their preparedness to become registered nurses and to recommend strategies to improve the preparation of nursing students for transition to become registered nurses. To answer the research question “What are the experiences of final year nursing students at a public college of nursing in the Eastern Cape Province with regard their preparedness to become registered nurses”, a qualitative, explorative and descriptive design was used as a framework for the study. Data were collected by means of unstructured focus group interviews with a purposively selected sample of 27 final year nursing students at the particular college of nursing. Data were analysed using Tesch’s method of analysis for qualitative research. Two themes emerged, revealing that participants at the college experienced preparedness and lack of preparedness to assume the role of a professional nurse. This related to certain aspects that had an impact on the preparation of the final year nursing students for practice and included: curriculum-related aspects; clinical teaching and learning support; learning opportunities; interpersonal relationships between lecturers, students and clinical staff; equipment; and library resources. It was concluded that the learning needs of the nursing students were not adequately catered for, leading to lack of preparedness. Through the involvement of nursing students in the evaluation of their learning, shortfalls in both education and practice areas could therefore be detected. Recommendations regarding strategies to be used to promote preparedness of final year nursing students included: continuous feedback on student performance in the form of exit evaluations on the part of students to identify learning needs; writing of progress reports on the part of clinical practice; and the employment of clinical preceptors with clear role specifications between the lecturers, ward sisters and preceptors to avoid role confusion.

Abstracts in English, Southern Sotho and Xhosa / Previous studies evidenced the association between work ethics climate, retention factors and organisational commitment separately. However, research combining all these variables have not yet been done. The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between work ethics climate, retention factors and organisational commitment of nurses in a South African public hospital. A quantitative research design was followed and a probability stratified sample (N=208) of nurses participated in the study. The results indicate significant relationships between work ethics climate and retention factors. Furthermore, the results indicate significant relationships between work ethics climate and organisational commitment. Moreover, the results indicate that work ethics climate moderates the relationship between training and development components of retention factors and organisational commitment. These findings provide new knowledge for the design of retention strategies, which adds value to the body of knowledge in relation to work ethics climate. Recommendations for further research and for the implementation of the results of the study by human resource professionals were made in terms of improving the ethical climate, the retention factors and organisational commitment of their employees. / Dinyakišišo tše di fetilego di file bohlatse bja kamano magareng ga seemo sa maitshwaro ka mošomong, mabaka a go tšwela pele le boikgafo ka fao go aroganego. Le ge go le bjale, dinyakišišo tšeo di kopanyago mehuta ye ka moka ga se tša hlwa di dirwa. Maikemišetšo a dinyakišišo tše e bile go nyakišiša kamano magareng ga seemo sa maitshwaro ka mošomong, mabaka a go tšwela pele le boikgafo bja bja baoki ka sepetleleng sa setšhaba sa Afrika Borwa. Tlhamo ya dinyakišišo tša boleng e dirišitšwe gomme sampole ya baoki ye e arogantšwego (N=208) ba kgathile tema ka dinyakišišong. Dipoelo di laetša kamano ye kgolo magareng ga seemo sa maitshwaro ka mošomong le mabaka a go tšwela pele. Godimo ga fao, dipoelo di laetša dikamano tše kgolo magareng ga seemo sa maitshwaro ka mošomong le boikgafo bja ka mokgatlong. Godimo ga fao, dipoelo di aletša gore seemo sa maitshwaro se lekanyetša kamano magareng ga dikarolo tša tlhahlo le tša tlhabollo tša mabaka a go tšwela pele le boikgafo bja ka mokgatlong. Dikutollo tše di fana ka tsebo ye mpsha ya tlhamo ya mekgwa ya go tšwela pele, yeo e tlišago boleng go tsebo mabapi le seemo sa maitshwaro a ka mošomong. Ditšhišinyo tša dinyakišišo go tšwela pele le tša go phethagatša dipoelo tša dinyakišišo ka bašomi ba sephrofešenale ba merero ya bašomi di dirilwe mabapi le go kaonafatša seemo sa maitshwaro, mabaka a go tšwela pele le boikgafo bja ka mokgatlong bja bašomi ba yona. / Amarhubhululo zesikhathi esidlulileko zifakazele itjhebiswano eliphakathi kobujamo bemigomo yokusebenza, imithelela yokubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi kanye nokuzibophelela kwihlangano ngendlela ehlukanisiweko. Nanyana kunjalo, ngokwerhubhululo ukuhlanganiswa kwazo zoke lezi zinto akhange kweziwe. Ihloso yaleli rhubhululo bekukuphenya itjhebiswano eliphakathi kobujamo bemigomo yokuziphatha emsebenzini, ukubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi kanye nokuzibophelela kuhlangano kwabahlengikazi esibhedlela sombuso eSewula Afrika. Ihlelo lerhubhululo elidzimelele kuzinga lekulumo lilandelwe kanti nesampula yabahlengikazi I (N=208) labadlale indima kurhubhululo lisetjenzisiwe.Imiphumela iveza itjhebiswano eliqakathekileko phakathi kobujamo bemigomo yokusebenza kanye nemithelela yokubanjwa kwabasebenzi bangakhambi. Ukuragela phambili, imiphumela iveza itjhebiswano eliqakathekileko phakathi kobujamo bemigomo yokusebenza kanye nokuzibophelela kwehlangano. Ngaphezu kwalokho, lemiphumela iveza ukobana ubujamo bemigomo yokuziphatha ilinganisa itjhebiswano phakathi kweengaba ezibandulako nezithuthukisako, iingaba ezimalungana nemithelela yokubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi kanye nokuzibophelela kwehlangano. Leli lwazi elitholakeleko linikela ilwazi elitjha malungana nokudizayinwa kwamasu wokubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi, okuyinto engezelela ivelu kumthombo welwazi malungana nobujamo bemigomo yokuziphatha emsebenzini. Iincomo ezinye ezimalungana nokuragela phambili nerhubhululo kanye nokusetjenziswa kwemiphumela yerhubhululo elimalungana nabasebenzi bomnyango wezokuqatjhwa kwabasebenzi zenziwe ngokuthi kuthuthukiswe ubujamo bemigomo yokuziphatha, imithelela yokubamba abasebenzi bangakhambi kanye nokuzibophelela kwabasebenzi kuhlangano. / Human Resource Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Stress management is a major challenge in South Africa, as well as other countries. Job stress has negative effect on professional nurses ’rendering of patient care. They should thus be able to manage their stress successfully in order to render quality nursing care to the customers. The purpose of the study was to identify and describe factors contributing to stressors among professional nurses, the effects of stressors on the wellbeing of professional nurses and the management of stress by professional nurses. METHOD: A quantitative, exploratory, descriptive design was utilised. The target population of this research study comprised of all professional nurses who were at work the day the researcher visited the sampled hospitals. The questionnaires were used to collect data from the sampled professional nurses, and descriptive statistic was used to analyse the data. RESULTS: The findings revealed that 45% of the professional nurses experienced pressure of work without rest, whereas 75% viewed changes at work as challenging and 15% mostly experienced accidents while on duty. Most of them indicated that they had previously iii experienced anxiety and that they did not engage in exercise. The finding further revealed that EAP is not facilitated in most institutions and that 97.4% of the professional nurses like to have more knowledge on management of stress. The results of this study may be useful to the entire population of health professionals, policy

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Background: The Mother-Baby Friendly Initiative (MBFI) promotes and supports breastfeeding in environments such as clinics, community health centres and hospitals that have fully-functioning maternity units. The implementation of the Mother-Baby Friendly Initiative in hospitals is associated with significant increases in the initiation and duration of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). The Mother-Baby Friendly Initiative also leads to improved healthcare for infants, children and provides improved maternal health to all mothers. The main aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of nurses regarding the Mother-Baby Friendly Initiative in non-accredited primary healthcare (PHC) facilities of Makhuduthamaga Sub-district. Method: Descriptive, cross-sectional and correlational study designs were used with the quantitative method. All the 18 non-accredited primary healthcare facilities were purposively selected and a total sampling method was used to select all the nurses working in these non-accredited primary healthcare facilities. Permission to conduct the study was sought from the University of Venda Research Ethics Committee and the Limpopo Department of Health Research Committee. Data was collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Content and face validity were enhanced before the actual data collection process. One hundred and ninety questionnaires were distributed and 164 responded, giving a response rate of 86.3%. Cronbach’s alpha test determined the reliability and reflected 0.981, indicating high reliability. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 23.0 and the Pearson coefficient of correlation established the relationship between variables. The study followed ethical considerations such as privacy, autonomy, confidentiality, fair treatment and right to self-determination. Results: In this study, 50.6% were professional nurses (PNs), 6.7% were nursing managers (NMs), 15.2% were enrolled nurses (ENs) and 27.4% were enrolled nursing assistants (ENAs). This study found that 100% of NMs, 65.1% of PNs, 54.2% of ENs and 26.7% of ENAs had received formal training on lactation management. Seventy-two percent (72%) of NMs, 90.4% of PNs, 72% of ENs vii and 66.7% of ENAs were knowledgeable about the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. This analysis found that the majority of nurses agreed that MBFI increases breastfeeding rates. Results showed that 63.6% of NMs, 69.6% of PNs, 56% of ENs and 46.7% of ENAs teach and demonstrate hand-milk expression to breastfeeding mothers. Furthermore, this research revealed that there was a significant relationship between the knowledge, attitudes and practices of nurses with a p-value of (p-00.01). Recommendations and Conclusion: This study recommends that all nurses should receive formal training on MBFI implementation and this should be conducted to improve ENs and ENAs’ awareness about MBFI. MBFI should be integrated into the training curriculum for all nursing categories. This study further recommends that a support model for implementation of MBFI be developed and implemented.

MPH / Department of Public Health / See the attached abstract below