M.Cur. (Intensive General Nursing) / From the professional ethical perspective the professional nurse is responsible for the treatment and nursing of a patient in acute pain by effectively handling pain in the first 48 hours post-operative following serious surgery. The professional nurse can treat patients optimally only if she has the necessary knowledge and skills with regard to the different methods of handling pain. By making effective handling of pain available to the patient, including the advantages and disadvantages, the professional nurse contributes to maintaining, promoting and restoring health. In this way she facilitates the patient in reaching his objective of obtaining wholeness and she obtains her objective of quality nursing. The aim of this study is to determine which method of handling pain, namely the intermittent bolus dose analgesics and patient controlled analgesics, offers the most advantages to the patient and the professional nurse. A quantitative, contextually descriptive research design was followed in which a survey method and a retrospective analysis of nursing and medical records were completed in order to determine the total amount of analgesic used and to investigate the haemodynamic stability while using analgesics. An analysis was done of the information collected by means of a structured pain control list. Results indicate that those patients using patient controlled analgesics use larger doses of analgesics and are haemodynamically more stable while using analgesics than those patients using the method of intermittent bolus dose analgesics. Following on the conclusion, nursing guidelines were established for nursing practice and recommendations were made for nursing practice, nursing education and further research.

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Cur. / An explanatory, descriptive method was undertaken to determine the effect of cognitive-sensory guidance on the pain experience of the child with bums during wound management procedures. The Nursing Theory of Wholeness was used as a premise for this study. The internal and external environments of the child were investigated. This was done by determining the pain perception (by using the Oucher!-scale) and the pain behaviour (by using the CHEOP-scale) respectively. The internal and external environments stand in interaction with each other and reflect within a specific physical, social and spiritual context the child's body, mind and spirit. These interactive patterns will be applied within the scientific and systematic framework of the nursing process. Prior to the study, attention was given to ethical issues such as acquiring permission and prevention of damage to the respondents. From the investigation of these three case studies the conclusion can be made that cognitive-sensory guidance could possibly be effective in reducing the pain experience of the child with bums during wound management procedures. Generalisation cannot be done due to the small sample size. This study only serves as background for future research and hypothesis formulation

M.Cur. / The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the experiences of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome whilst being nursed in intensive care units, in order to set guidelines for nursing. The researcher made use of the phenomenological approach within the paradigm of qualitative research. The target population consisted of 70 patients of which seven complied with the selection criteria: In-depth interviews, which were taped, were conducted with the patients. Validity and reliability were ensured by using measures as stated by Woods and Catanzaro (1988). Data-analysis was executed by means of Giorgi's method (Omery,1983) and after clearance with an external decoder, it was categorized according to the patients' internal and external environment. The Nursing Theory for the Wholeperson had been used to this purpose. The conclusions of this study indicate that patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome in intensive care units experience deprivation of sleep, pain and fear. Limited communication and loss of autonomy create frustration. Patients become lonely and bored and have a need for constant support from their family and others. Consequent upon the conclusions the researcher developed nine guidelines for the nursing of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome. These guidelines are in support of the functional approach of the researcher and may be considered an attempt to provide research findings that are applicable to the practice of nursing.

M.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing) / Burnout has severe consequences for the psychiatric nurse as individual and for the mental health delivery system because of an increase in staff turnover and a decrease in the quality of patientcare. Psychiatric nurses suffering from burnout have the potential to experience job satisfaction, if job satisfaction can be facilitated. Job satisfaction of the psychiatric nurse will promote the mental health for her as individual, her patients, colleagues, family and the community. The following aims were set for the research project: Exploring and describing the aspects which cause and promote burnout amongst psychiatric nurses at a private psychiatric hospital; and to formulate guidelines for the psychiatric nursing specialist to facilitate job satisfaction of psychiatric nurses, as an integral part of mental health by means of mobilisation of resources. Nursing for the Whole Person Theory was used as the theoretical framework for this qualitative,contextual study. Botes' Model (1995:4-9) for Nursing Research was used to structure theresearch. The measures which were used to ensure reliability,validity and credibility of the research, were that of Guba (inKrefting, 1991:214-222).A pilot study was conducted to prevent obstacles during gathering and analysis of data. Specific criteria were set for selectionof participants. After conducting a pilot study, fiveparticipants were purposively selected from the target populationat a private psychiatric clinic.Individual focus interviews were recorded on tape and latertranscribed. Data gathering and data analysis were divided in two phases. Three questions were asked during -Phase 1 regarding burnout, and one during - Phase 2- regarding guidelinesfor the prevention of burnout. Data was analyzed systematicallyand descriptive, combining Tesch's (in Creswell, 1994:115) and Kerlinger's (1986:479) methods.

D.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Cur. / The goal of this research was to generate and describe a support approach for the advanced practitioner in psychiatric nursing to utilize for the neonatal intensive care nurse, working in a neonatal intensive care unit, in order to promote, to maintain and to restore mental health as integral part of health. Many changes occurred in the health care industry during the twentieth century. In South Africa, health care and social services that have developed, are grossly inefficient and inadequate. The Reconstruction and Development Program (R.D.P.), (1994:42-47), of the government of National Unity, designed therefore a number of programs to restructure the health care services , in order to contribute to the increasing prosperity and quality of life for all South Africans. Free health care has thus to be provided in the public sector for children under six, pregnant and nursing mothers. Free health care makes it more accessible for thousands of people who have avoided seeking help in the past, because of lack of funds. This large influx of patients to health facilities has placed a strain on staff, due to the increased workload. The neonatal intensive care nurses' workload and responsibilities have thus increased.

M.Cur. / The purpose of this study is to describe guidelines for a Community Based Curriculum in Psychiatric Nursing Science for a nursing college in KwaZulu Natal. The study consists of 4 phases. To reach the purpose of the study, a situational analysis was done in 3 phases to identify the principles for a Community Based Curriculum in Psychiatric Nursing Science. In Phase I - a document analysis of relevant government policies and legislation was conducted to obtain the principles of mental health care. In Phase H - the statistics of the psychiatric diagnoses of patients from two community psychiatric clinics and one psychiatric hospital admission unit were collected. From the prevalence of the mental disorders, the mental health needs and problems were identified. These were the principles of Phase II. Phase III - was the focus group interviews with the psychiatric nurse educators of a nursing college in KwaZulu Natal to ascertain their viewpoints on a Community Based Curriculum in Psychiatric Nursing Science. From the findings of the focus group interviews, a literature control and conceptual framework were done. Thereafter, the principles of mental health care from this phase were identified. The principles of Phase I, II and III were used to formulate Phase IV, which was the guidelines for the operationalisation of Community Based Curriculum in Psychiatric Nursing Science. The outcomes based approach was used in the Community Based Curriculum in Psychiatric Nursing Science in accordance with the National Qualifications Framework of the South African Qualifications Authority. Recommendations concerning nursing practice, nursing education and further study were made at the end of the study including the limitations affecting the study

M.Cur. / The increasing use of intoxicating substances worldwide has made societies shift deeper into the culture of substance abuse. The situation in South Africa is likely to be the same. Unfortunately, the scourge of substance abuse affects family life by causing family disruptions which lead to various social pathologies of our time. There is considerable literature supporting the stressful life experienced by adolescents living in neglectful, violent, conflict- and fight-orientated environments caused by the abuse of substances by parents. This study was carried out for the purpose of investigating the life-world of adolescents living in substance-influenced homes. The study is qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in approach and it, therefore, became necessary to use phenomenological semi-structured interviews with the adolescents whose parents abuse substances. The sample consisted of eight high school adolescents living in three rural villages of Lomayaneng, Motsoseng and Seweding in Mafikeng. Before the interview, trust was built through written permission to the principals of the schools concerned and the parents of these children to conduct the research. At the same time, the adolescents were informed of what the research concerns before the main interview. Data was analysed utilizing Giorgi's and Tesch's methods. Trustworthiness was, amongst others, ensured throughout the study by applying Guba's approach, including the services of an independent coder. The findings of the study indicated that adolescents whose parents abuse substances live a stressful life and suffer much shame, neglect, despair and trauma because their aspirations, for example, education, emotional/spiritual, physical and social, are frustrated since their home life is dysfunctional. Two main themes were identified: Disrupted family life related to abuse of substances and stressful life related to frustrated aspirations; and their consequences were found to be that these adolescents use ineffective coping mechanisms, for example over-responsibility for all family members and failure to seek professional help with a view to coer the defects in their families. Guidelines for psychiatric nurses were built around these themes with the aim of assisting adolescents who are faced with similar situations to promote, maintain and restore their mental health as an integral part of health.

M.Cur. / The student nurse is primarily an individual undergoing personal and professional development towards becoming a competent and creative professional nurse. The presence of the student nurse in the clinical practice during her term of training is aimed at the realisation of this development. Consequently it appears essential that the student nurse be granted the opportunities for gradual personal and professional growth. This constitutes the basis for the advancement of her status as student. On the basis of a literature study a conceptual framework has been developed to serve as the basis for granting student status in South Africa. A descriptive, exploratory survey was undertaken by means of a questionnaire submitted to student nurses registered with a nursing college in the Transvaal. The purpose of the survey was to determine to what extent o student status is being advanced in the clinical practice, and o the service component of the student's training programme possibly obstructs advancement of her student status. From the survey it appears that frequently much of the sparkle attached to being a student is not realised in the clinical practice. This can be ascribed to the dominant utilisation of the student nurse as the primary service unit in the clinical practice. The research results indicate that in the clinical practice student status is only advanced to a limited degree due to the fact that the service component, which requires the student nurse to act as primary service unit during her term of training, greatly obstructs the advancement of her student status. Based on these results certain recommendations have been made.