Thesis (M.Cur.) -- University of Limpopo, 2014 / The purpose of the study was to develop protocol for professional nurses regarding NIMART management that is based on data and specific challenges that are faced in the Ehlanzeni district by professional nurses. A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional research design was used for this study. The population consisted of all professional nurses who are NIMART trained, managing and initiating patients on ARV’s at primary health care clinics. Systematic random sampling method was used to select 135 respondents. Data was collected through the self-developed questionnaire. The questionnaire was pre tested. Reliability was ensured through self-administered questionnaire and with the guide of literature review. The questionnaire was also pre tested by conducting a pilot study. Validity was ensured through undertaking extensive literature review, giving operational definitions of concepts, questionnaires were given to supervisors, questions constructed according to the objectives of the study and congruence was ensured between research questions, objectives, findings and recommendations. Data analysis was done through descriptive studies, using SPSS statistics 21.0 programme of data analysis with the assistance of the statistician. The findings indicate that challenges faced by professional nurses regarding nurse initiated and management of antiretroviral therapy are be lack of professional nurses, fear of infecting themselves while treating HIV positive patients, patients do not come on their return dates, encountering problems when they trace defaulters and shortage of retroviral drugs. The study recommends that staff shortage should be addressed, medicine supply should be monitored, a competent HIV trained doctor should be appointed and dedicated outreach team should be appointed. Keywords: NIM-ART, HIV/AIDS, Professional nurse

The basic philosophy of shared governance includes the right for staff nurses to practice in an environment that allows participation in the decision making process at all levels of the organization. Autonomy and responsibility support shared governance. The purpose of this study was to examine nurses’ perceptions of autonomy in a well established shared governance setting. The Neuman Systems Model served as the theoretical framework.A convenience sample of 83 (42%) staff nurses at Saint Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta, Georgia completed the Schutzenhofer Professional Nursing Autonomy Scale. Three open ended questions were included in the questionnaire to further explore staff nurses’ perceptions of the professional practice environment. Demographic data were also collected.Findings in this study revealed no significant correlations between selected demographic variables and autonomy. More than between selected demographic variables and autonomy. More than half (65.1%) ranked in the higher level of professional autonomy, 34.9% (29) ranked in the mid level and none in the lower level. Qualitative data revealed that nurses working in a well established shared governance setting perceived control over the nursing care of patients and appreciated and the ability to make decisions regarding patient care. Respondents overwhelmingly indicated that nurses should be compensated for participation in governance activities.Conclusions from this study were that implementation of professional practice models such as shared governance improve nurses’ perceptions of autonomy and create an atmosphere in which nurses can practice the art of nursing while clearly articulating a vision for the future. Consistent and appropriate decision making by nurses facilitates the interdisciplinary plan of care and encourages trusting relationships among professional disciplines.Nurse managers are in an ideal position to create a vision by designing structures that promote staff involvement. Managers must build formal recognition programs into shared governance systems and provide nurses with the time to attend meetings. Today’s nursing leaders must be ready to create a vision, facilitate change, mentor, nurture, coach and advise staff. / School of Nursing

Job-communication satisfaction and its importance to nursing staff and first-line supervisors is important because people in complex health care delivery systems tend to dehumanize communication (Duldt, 1989, 1990b). The purpose of the study is to determine the level of satisfaction first-line supervisors and staff nurses have of job-communication and interpersonal relationships, and the degree of importance staff members and first-line supervisors place on job-communication and interpersonal relationships within a mid-sized acute care facility in an urban area. The theoretical framework is Duldt's Humanistic Nursing Communication Theory (Hersey & Duldt, 1989).The population was all staff nurses and first-line supervisors employed in inpatient services at a midwest hospital. The sample was comprised of about 231 registered nurses and 61% first-line supervisors who volunteered to answer the Job-Communication Satisfaction Importance Questionnaire (JCSI). The JCSI was developed by B. W. Duldt (1990) based on the work of Downs, Hazen, and Thiry as cited in Duldt (1990a). The procedures for the protection of human subjects were followed.Findings revealed that supervisors and staff nurses were satisfied with aspects of job-communication. Supervisors and staff nurses rated six of the eight topics on the JCSI as important aspects of job-communication. Aspects of job-communication and interpersonal relationships were important to supervisors and staff nurses in the facility studied.The conclusions from the study were: (a) satisfaction with job-communication and interpersonal relationships can be improved, (b) aspects of job-communication and interpersonal relationships identified in the study were important to supervisors and staff nurses. Nursing supervisors are in key positions to influence job -communication satisfaction. Organizations undergoing rapid changes need to develop and maintain communication which is satisfactory to human beings working in the organization. / School of Nursing

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.

The purpose of this study was to explore what keeps nurses in nursing by examining the impact of the relational experiences between the nurse and her or his patient in the context of the nursing situation. Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenology grounded the study and was the method used to interpret the registered nurse participants' meaning of their everydayness. The nurses' first hand perspectives elicited implications for nursing practice. This qualitative research study examined what keeps nurses in nursing. The eight registered nurse participants provided rich descriptive data from which four relational themes emerged: Practicing from Inner Core Beliefs, Understanding the Other from Within, Making a Difference, and Nursing as an Evolving Process. The hermeneutical interpretative process guided the researcher to synthesize the themes into a constitutive pattern of meaning which the researcher named Intentional Compassion Energy. In intentional caring consciousness, the nurse intentionally knows the nursed as whole. Compassion energy is the intersubjective gift of compassion that gives nurses the opportunity to be with the nursed. Compassion energy is composed of compassionate presence, patterned nurturance and intentionally knowing the nursed and self as whole. Thus, intentional compassion energy is defined as the regeneration of nurses' capacity to foster interconnectedness when the nurse activates the intent to nurse. Intentional compassion energy was discovered in the meaning of the nurse participants being in their everydayness of practice. The participants described the intention to care compassionately as the grounding of their practice, striving to understand the other, to make a difference while living their nursing as an evolving process. Hermeneutic phenomenology provided the opening to discover what keeps nurses in nursing. / by Dorothy J. Dunn. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the Diabetes Nurse Care Manager on an at-risk diabetic population using a Primary Group Visit Model in Outlying Medical Offices within the Kaiser-Permanente Health Care System upon the process and outcome of care in this population.

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) has been the traditional method of decision support systems design. However, in the last decade several methodologies have been introduced to address the limitations arising in the use of the traditional method. These approaches include Courban's iterative design, Keen's adaptive design, prototyping and a number of mixed methodologies incorporating prototyping into the SDLC. Each of the previously established design methodologies has a number of differing characteristics that make each of them a more suitable strategy for certain environments. However, in some environments the current methodologies present certain limitations or unnecessary expenditures. These limitations suggest the need for an alternative methodology. This dissertation develops a new methodology, priority design, to meet this need. To determine what methodology would be most effective in a given situation, an analysis of the operating environment must be performed. Such issues as project complexity, project uncertainty, and limited user involvement must be addressed. This dissertation develops a set of guidelines to assist in this analysis. For clarity, the guidelines are applied to three, well-documented case studies. As an application of the priority design methodology, a decision support system for nurse scheduling is developed. The development of a useful DSS for nurse scheduling requires that projected staff requirements and issues of both coverage and differential assignment of personnel be addressed. / Ph. D.