Quantitative, descriptive research was conducted to determine which factors contribute to absenteeism among nurses. A structured self-administered questionnaire was administered to the entire population of nurses who worked at a district hospital in the Limpopo Province. Statistical data analysis, involving factor analysis, frequencies and Chi-squares was performed. The findings revealed that various factors related to the characteristics of the nurse, characteristics of the manager, characteristics of the work and characteristics of the organisation contribute to absenteeism. Professional nurses and sub-professional nurses, as well as nurses younger than 40 and nurses who are 40 years and older, appeared to disagree on the extent to which various factors contribute to absenteeism in the workplace. This study was aimed at assisting organisations and managers in reducing absenteeism in the workplace, and by doing so, improving the quality of care. / Health Studies / MA (HEALTH STUDIES)

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the meaning employees attributed to the lived experiences of having been declared in excess in the Gauteng Health Department during restructuring. A qualitative, phenomenological research design was selected as the most appropriate approach in conducting this study. Phenomenology offers both methodological and philosophical perspectives with the aim of developing a greater understanding through description, reflection and awareness of the meaning of having “been declared in excess”. Purposive sampling was implemented. A total of ten (10) female professional nurses participated in the study. Data were collected using one common ontological question that enabled the researcher to gain a greater understanding of what it means to be declared in excess from the participants’ perspective. Data were collected until saturation was reached. Unstructured audio-taped interviews were conducted with study participants. Data were analysed using the method developed by Giorgi (1985). The study highlighted different reactions from different participants despite being exposed to the same experience. / Health Studies / Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil.)

Thesis (M.Sc. (Curations)) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / The purpose of the study was to determine the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas at the Witbank hospital Nkangala district Mpumalanga province. The objectives of the study were to describe the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas in nursing practice and to determine supportive measures to help professional nurses to deal with ethical dilemmas encountered in nursing practice. The research question was: what are the ethical dilemmas that professional nurses experience in nursing practice? Kohlberg theory of moral development was used as a theoretical framework. A qualitative exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used to describe the experiences of professional nurses with ethical dilemmas in nursing practice. Purposive sampling was used to sample fourteen (14) professional nurses. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Open-coding method of data analysis was used and four themes and sub-themes emerged. The study found that professional nurses experience ethical dilemmas related to death and dying, distribution of both human and material resources, respect of patients’ autonomy and the nurses’ rights. The study recommends continuous ethics education and the inclusion of ethics in nursing curricula, creation of a supportive working environment, knowledge and understanding of the pledge of service, Inter- disciplinary teams to discuss ethical issues, availability of ethics experts and ethics mentors in the wards.

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

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 aim of this study was to develop guidelines for the support of newly qualified nurses to ease their transition from student to professional practitioners in Lesotho; based on an exploration and description of the newly qualified nurses’ first hand experience of their transition from student to professional practitioners in a public hospital in Lesotho. The rationale behind the study was the researcher’s perception of an attitude change observed in the newly qualified professional practitioners. An explorative, descriptive, contextual, qualitative research design was chosen. The sample included all newly qualified professional nurses who worked in a public hospital in Lesotho for a period of one year or less. Data collection took place by means of semi–structured individual interviews with ten (10) participants and a focus group interview with eight (8) of the original participants. Content analysis of the data in the qualitative tradition was independently done by two coders who identified four (4) themes and ten (10) sub–themes. The first theme was described as reality shock, including the sub–themes emotional reactions and limited resources. The second theme, competence, includes the sub–themes of knowledge, skills and attitude. A third theme describes the participants experience of the support from management, colleagues, the Ministry of Health and Social welfare, nursing educational institutions and the community. The fourth theme describes the participants’ vision for the future. Each of the themes was discussed together with relevant data obtained from literature and reduced to a conclusive statement which served as basis for the formulation of guidelines to ease the transition from student to professional practitioner in Lesotho. The research report concluded with the researcher’s evaluation of the study and recommendations for nursing education, nursing management and further research. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The aim of this study was to develop guidelines for the support of newly qualified nurses to ease their transition from student to professional practitioners in Lesotho; based on an exploration and description of the newly qualified nurses’ first hand experience of their transition from student to professional practitioners in a public hospital in Lesotho. The rationale behind the study was the researcher’s perception of an attitude change observed in the newly qualified professional practitioners. An explorative, descriptive, contextual, qualitative research design was chosen. The sample included all newly qualified professional nurses who worked in a public hospital in Lesotho for a period of one year or less. Data collection took place by means of semi–structured individual interviews with ten (10) participants and a focus group interview with eight (8) of the original participants. Content analysis of the data in the qualitative tradition was independently done by two coders who identified four (4) themes and ten (10) sub–themes. The first theme was described as reality shock, including the sub–themes emotional reactions and limited resources. The second theme, competence, includes the sub–themes of knowledge, skills and attitude. A third theme describes the participants experience of the support from management, colleagues, the Ministry of Health and Social welfare, nursing educational institutions and the community. The fourth theme describes the participants’ vision for the future. Each of the themes was discussed together with relevant data obtained from literature and reduced to a conclusive statement which served as basis for the formulation of guidelines to ease the transition from student to professional practitioner in Lesotho. The research report concluded with the researcher’s evaluation of the study and recommendations for nursing education, nursing management and further research. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the meaning employees attributed to the lived experiences of having been declared in excess in the Gauteng Health Department during restructuring. A qualitative, phenomenological research design was selected as the most appropriate approach in conducting this study. Phenomenology offers both methodological and philosophical perspectives with the aim of developing a greater understanding through description, reflection and awareness of the meaning of having “been declared in excess”. Purposive sampling was implemented. A total of ten (10) female professional nurses participated in the study. Data were collected using one common ontological question that enabled the researcher to gain a greater understanding of what it means to be declared in excess from the participants’ perspective. Data were collected until saturation was reached. Unstructured audio-taped interviews were conducted with study participants. Data were analysed using the method developed by Giorgi (1985). The study highlighted different reactions from different participants despite being exposed to the same experience. / Health Studies / Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil.)

Introduction: When enrolled nurses upgrade to newly-qualified professional nurses, they are considered more prepared to adapt to professional nurse roles and are expected to "hit the floor running". However, transitioning from enrolled nurse to newly-qualified professional nurse has been found difficult and stressful due to the shift from enrolled nurses' familiar dependent practitioner role to the less known professional nurses' independent practitioner role. Currently there is no official programme to address the transition support needs of newly-qualified professional nurses who upgrade from enrolled nurses in Mpumalanga private hospitals. In the Mpumalanga private hospitals, for the period 2012-2013, the estimated average turnover rate for newly-qualified professional nurses was 33-47%. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore and describe how newly-qualified professional nurses who upgraded from enrolled nurses experienced transition support during the transition period in private hospitals in the Mpumalanga Province. Research design: A qualitative holistic multiple case study research design was utilised to explore and describe how newly-qualified professional nurses who upgraded from enrolled nurses experienced transition support during the transition period in private hospitals in Mpumalanga Province. Method: Ten newly-qualified professional nurses, who graduated in 2012-2015 with a minimum of six months' and a maximum of four years' work experience in two private hospitals in Mpumalanga Province, participated in this study. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted and an inductive approach was utilised for content analysis of verbatim transcripts and field notes. Findings: The study found that at the private health care level, there is minimal understanding and recognition of the transition support needs of the newly-qualified professional nurse making the transition to clinical healthcare practice in private hospitals as professional nurses. Consequently, there is no newly-qualified professional nurse transition support programme during the transition period. Moreover, the newly-qualified professional nurse needs transition support mostly during the first two stages of the transition period. / Dissertation (MCur)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Nursing Science / MCur / Unrestricted

Thesis (Ph.D.(Nursing Science)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a training programme to improve the implementation of the nursing process in public hospitals in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. A mixed-method convergent parallel design was used in this study. Qualitative data were collected from 18 professional nurses using a semi structured one-to-one interview using an interview guide. The quantitative data were collected from 283 professional nurses through a self-administered questionnaire. Qualitative data were analysed using Tesch’s open coding method while quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The findings were merged using a joint display to determine the extent to which the two data confirm, contradict, or expand. The study was guided by Dickoff, James, and Wiedenbach's Practice Orientated theory and Knowles Adult learning theory. The findings revealed that professional nurses perform their activities following the steps of the nursing process, nurses can implement the nursing process timeously but have problems with some steps of the nursing process. Nurses know the importance of recording but the incomplete recording was found to be a challenge, nurses were not attending in-service training on the nursing process leading to poor implementation of the steps, there were inadequate human and material resources, poor management and administrative support affecting the implementation of the nursing process, nurses do not know about the staff training and development policy and there is no training programme on the nursing process in the hospitals. The study, therefore, recommends that the nursing management support for nurses implementing nursing process; provision of adequate human and material resources; scheduling of continuous in-service training sessions for all categories of nurses; adoption of the short training course developed by the Department of Health in the Limpopo Province for in-servicing professional nurses; nursing process be introduced from the first level of nursing training and be reinforced throughout training; the short course should be included in the curriculum of all undergraduate nurse training, and other researchers to develop a model for effective implementation of the nursing process / University of Limpopo