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.

In South Africa professional nurses undergo training which gives them different levels of skills. It is difficult for professional nurses to render comprehensive primary health care services without specific knowledge and skills. Some lack skills in preventative and promotive health care delivery; others are not trained to take care of a pregnant woman or a baby after delivery, or of a mental health patient; while yet others are only curatively oriented. It is possible that they do not recognise their own limitations and are not aware of the skills needed to render comprehensive primary health care services. Their perceptions could influence their practice and severely affect the quality of health services. The aim of this research was to explore and describe the perceptions that professional nurses working in primary health care clinics have of the skills required to render quality comprehensive primary health care services, and the perceptions they have of their own level of skills to render quality comprehensive primary health care services, as well as to formulate guidelines for the facilitation of trained professional nurses to truly render quality comprehensive primary health care services. A qualitative design was followed. Permission was obtained from the Potchefstroom District Health Manager to conduct this research. Purposive voluntary sampling was used to identify the three samples who complied with the set selection criteria. Data collection was done by means of semi-structured interviews. Experts in qualitative research evaluated the semi-structured interview schedule. A trial run was done and the interview schedule was then finalised to conduct the interviews. The interviews were recorded on audiotape and then transcribed. The interviewer made field notes to serve as an analytical basis for the collected data. Data was collected until data saturation was achieved. Data analysis was done by means of open coding. A co-coder was appointed and two consensus meetings took place. The findings indicated that professional nurses perceive the skills required to render quality comprehensive primary health care services as the ability to assess, diagnose and manage patients, as well as specific skills acquired during the various nurse training programmes. The more comprehensively trained, the more competent they feel. The less comprehensively trained, the more negative they experience their work. They view their own level of skills as ranging from adequate to lacking and inadequate, depending on their training. They feel that it is impo~ant to develop skills ranging from computer skills to the full range of skills. The conclusions drawn are that the professional nurses with different training and levels of skills are well aware of the skills required to re.nder comprehensive primary health care services. They maintain that trained professional nurses need qualifications in General Nursing, Midwifery, Community Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing and Clinical Nursing Science, and Health Assessment, Treatment and Care. The professional nurses with all five qualifications feel confident and enjoy their work, whereas those who are not fully trained lack certain skills and experience negative feelings working in the primary health care clinics. Recommendations are made for nursing education, nursing research and nursing practice with specific reference to the formulation of guidelines for the facilitation of trained professional nurses to truly render comprehensive primary health care services, with a focus on quality control, orientation, mentoring, planning of training, support systems, and consultancy. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

Worldwide, patients who visit health-care facilities generally have to wait very long to be attended by physicians and professional nurses. In South Africa, the Cape Triage Score system was implemented with great success in Emergency departments in the Cape Metropole. In primary health-care clinics the concern is that patients have to wait too long for service delivery, even if they are very ill and need hospitalisation. In this research study the role of triage in reducing waiting times in primary health-care clinics was examined. The Cape Triage Score system that was used in Emergency departments in the private sector and also in public hospitals was adapted for a pilot intervention study. This was done to determine if the utilisation of this system can reduce the waiting times of patients visiting primary health-care clinics. The researcher utilised a quantitative design with an intervention, after measuring the baseline waiting time. The strategies applied included an exploratory, descriptive and contextual strategy. The study was carried out in three steps according to the objectives set for the study. Firstly, the baseline assessment of the current waiting times in two PHC clinics in a sub-district of the North West Province was done. A waiting-time survey checklist was used to determine the baseline waiting time of patients visiting primary health-care clinics. These waiting-time survey checklists consisted of a few components that assessed different aspects of waiting time. The second objective was to explore and describe literature in order to understand primary health-care waiting times, triage and related constructs. The third objective was to pilot an adapted Cape Triage Score system to determine if the intervention contributed to reducing waiting times for patients visiting primary health-care clinics. Data was analysed according to Cohen’s effect sizes. The comparison between the baseline waiting times and pilot intervention waiting-time assessment was done according to Cohen’s effect sizes. The analysis of the data indicated a practical significance for the component where the pilot Cape Triage Score system was applied, as patients were referred to the physician and professional nurse according to the severity of their condition. The outcome of the study indicated no reduction in the overall waiting time of patients visiting primary health-care clinics due to the different components of the waiting-time survey checklist. Finally, the research was evaluated, limitations were identified and recommendations were stipulated for nursing practice, education, research and policy. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In South Africa professional nurses undergo training which gives them different levels of skills. It is difficult for professional nurses to render comprehensive primary health care services without specific knowledge and skills. Some lack skills in preventative and promotive health care delivery; others are not trained to take care of a pregnant woman or a baby after delivery, or of a mental health patient; while yet others are only curatively oriented. It is possible that they do not recognise their own limitations and are not aware of the skills needed to render comprehensive primary health care services. Their perceptions could influence their practice and severely affect the quality of health services. The aim of this research was to explore and describe the perceptions that professional nurses working in primary health care clinics have of the skills required to render quality comprehensive primary health care services, and the perceptions they have of their own level of skills to render quality comprehensive primary health care services, as well as to formulate guidelines for the facilitation of trained professional nurses to truly render quality comprehensive primary health care services. A qualitative design was followed. Permission was obtained from the Potchefstroom District Health Manager to conduct this research. Purposive voluntary sampling was used to identify the three samples who complied with the set selection criteria. Data collection was done by means of semi-structured interviews. Experts in qualitative research evaluated the semi-structured interview schedule. A trial run was done and the interview schedule was then finalised to conduct the interviews. The interviews were recorded on audiotape and then transcribed. The interviewer made field notes to serve as an analytical basis for the collected data. Data was collected until data saturation was achieved. Data analysis was done by means of open coding. A co-coder was appointed and two consensus meetings took place. The findings indicated that professional nurses perceive the skills required to render quality comprehensive primary health care services as the ability to assess, diagnose and manage patients, as well as specific skills acquired during the various nurse training programmes. The more comprehensively trained, the more competent they feel. The less comprehensively trained, the more negative they experience their work. They view their own level of skills as ranging from adequate to lacking and inadequate, depending on their training. They feel that it is impo~ant to develop skills ranging from computer skills to the full range of skills. The conclusions drawn are that the professional nurses with different training and levels of skills are well aware of the skills required to re.nder comprehensive primary health care services. They maintain that trained professional nurses need qualifications in General Nursing, Midwifery, Community Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing and Clinical Nursing Science, and Health Assessment, Treatment and Care. The professional nurses with all five qualifications feel confident and enjoy their work, whereas those who are not fully trained lack certain skills and experience negative feelings working in the primary health care clinics. Recommendations are made for nursing education, nursing research and nursing practice with specific reference to the formulation of guidelines for the facilitation of trained professional nurses to truly render comprehensive primary health care services, with a focus on quality control, orientation, mentoring, planning of training, support systems, and consultancy. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

Worldwide, patients who visit health-care facilities generally have to wait very long to be attended by physicians and professional nurses. In South Africa, the Cape Triage Score system was implemented with great success in Emergency departments in the Cape Metropole. In primary health-care clinics the concern is that patients have to wait too long for service delivery, even if they are very ill and need hospitalisation. In this research study the role of triage in reducing waiting times in primary health-care clinics was examined. The Cape Triage Score system that was used in Emergency departments in the private sector and also in public hospitals was adapted for a pilot intervention study. This was done to determine if the utilisation of this system can reduce the waiting times of patients visiting primary health-care clinics. The researcher utilised a quantitative design with an intervention, after measuring the baseline waiting time. The strategies applied included an exploratory, descriptive and contextual strategy. The study was carried out in three steps according to the objectives set for the study. Firstly, the baseline assessment of the current waiting times in two PHC clinics in a sub-district of the North West Province was done. A waiting-time survey checklist was used to determine the baseline waiting time of patients visiting primary health-care clinics. These waiting-time survey checklists consisted of a few components that assessed different aspects of waiting time. The second objective was to explore and describe literature in order to understand primary health-care waiting times, triage and related constructs. The third objective was to pilot an adapted Cape Triage Score system to determine if the intervention contributed to reducing waiting times for patients visiting primary health-care clinics. Data was analysed according to Cohen’s effect sizes. The comparison between the baseline waiting times and pilot intervention waiting-time assessment was done according to Cohen’s effect sizes. The analysis of the data indicated a practical significance for the component where the pilot Cape Triage Score system was applied, as patients were referred to the physician and professional nurse according to the severity of their condition. The outcome of the study indicated no reduction in the overall waiting time of patients visiting primary health-care clinics due to the different components of the waiting-time survey checklist. Finally, the research was evaluated, limitations were identified and recommendations were stipulated for nursing practice, education, research and policy. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This study investigated the clinical accompaniment of nursing students in a rural hospital. Nursing students are allocated to clinical facilities for clinical exposure and learning opportunities; to integrate theoretical knowledge with practical skills and professional socialization under guidance and support from professional practitioners. Although the rural hospital, as context for this study, provides unique and challenging learning opportunities for clinical teaching and learning, the environment as such and the relationship between the stakeholders (nursing students and professional nurses) seem to be questionable and not conducive for learning. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design served as framework for this study. Data was collected by means of semi–structured focus–group interviews with samples selected from two (2) populations of stakeholders with first hand experience of the clinical accompaniment of nursing students allocated to the rural hospital for clinical exposure and learning. The first sample consisted of thirteen (n=13) nursing students and the second sample consisted of professional nurses (n=6) directly involved in the clinical accompaniment of the nursing students. The focus of the interviews was the participants' experience of the clinical accompaniment in a specific rural hospital. Data was analyzed by means of the process of content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman (2004). Three (3) themes and eight (8) subthemes emerged from the data collected from the nursing students. The data collected from the professional nurses resulted in five (5) themes and eleven (11) subthemes. The collected data was integrated with relevant national and international literature to culminate in eight (8) conclusive statements. The conclusive statements served as basis for the proposal of guidelines to improve the clinical accompaniment of nursing students in a rural hospital and to enhance learning in the clinical practice area. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

This study investigated the clinical accompaniment of nursing students in a rural hospital. Nursing students are allocated to clinical facilities for clinical exposure and learning opportunities; to integrate theoretical knowledge with practical skills and professional socialization under guidance and support from professional practitioners. Although the rural hospital, as context for this study, provides unique and challenging learning opportunities for clinical teaching and learning, the environment as such and the relationship between the stakeholders (nursing students and professional nurses) seem to be questionable and not conducive for learning. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design served as framework for this study. Data was collected by means of semi–structured focus–group interviews with samples selected from two (2) populations of stakeholders with first hand experience of the clinical accompaniment of nursing students allocated to the rural hospital for clinical exposure and learning. The first sample consisted of thirteen (n=13) nursing students and the second sample consisted of professional nurses (n=6) directly involved in the clinical accompaniment of the nursing students. The focus of the interviews was the participants' experience of the clinical accompaniment in a specific rural hospital. Data was analyzed by means of the process of content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman (2004). Three (3) themes and eight (8) subthemes emerged from the data collected from the nursing students. The data collected from the professional nurses resulted in five (5) themes and eleven (11) subthemes. The collected data was integrated with relevant national and international literature to culminate in eight (8) conclusive statements. The conclusive statements served as basis for the proposal of guidelines to improve the clinical accompaniment of nursing students in a rural hospital and to enhance learning in the clinical practice area. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Background: Research on nursing practice has highlighted a relationship between non-nursing tasks (NNTs), nursing tasks left undone (NTLU), and internationally it was found that these factors have an effect on job satisfaction. Since the last study done on NNTs and NTLU in 1988, much has changed in South Africa`s health system. Current South African studies have revealed that decreased numbers of PNs in South Africa experience satisfaction. Therefore, this study explores the relationship between NNTs, NTLU and job satisfaction on both individual PN level and unit level in South Africa, and contributes to the international debate. Aim: To investigate the relationship between NNTs, NTLU and job satisfaction among professional nurses (PNs) in medical and surgical units in private and public hospitals in South Africa. Method: A cross-sectional survey design was used including 1166 PNs in 60 medical and surgical units in 55 private hospitals and seven national referral hospitals in South Africa who completed the survey. Measures: Relationships between NNTs, NTLU, job satisfaction and aspects of job satisfaction. Results: The three main NNTs performed were filling-in for non-nursing services (d=0.47), cleaning patient’s rooms and equipment (d=0.48) and obtaining supplies and equipment (d=0.64). Nationally more than 50% of PNs reported the following NTLU – comfort/talk with patients (62.2%), educating patients and family (57.9%) and develop or update nursing care plans/pathways (51.6%). PNs in private hospitals are more satisfied with their jobs than PNs in public hospitals. PNs were most dissatisfied with the opportunities for advancement (M = 2.60) and educational opportunities (M=2.64) aspects of job satisfaction. At unit level, NTLU positively correlated with three NNTs, and job satisfaction correlated mostly and negatively with NTLU. Conclusion: South African PNs perform many NNTs. However, the performance of NNTs does not influence their job satisfaction to the extent the NTLU does. Although PNs in this study indicated that NNTs do not have a significant influence on NTLU, it may reveal a greater issue, in that PNs have grown accustomed to performing NNTs as part of their workload. Clarifying professional nurses’ scope of practice and increased use of support services may provide PNs with more time to conduct nursing tasks which should improve job satisfaction. Recommendations for practice, education, policy/orientation programmes and research are made from the findings of this study. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Background: Research on nursing practice has highlighted a relationship between non-nursing tasks (NNTs), nursing tasks left undone (NTLU), and internationally it was found that these factors have an effect on job satisfaction. Since the last study done on NNTs and NTLU in 1988, much has changed in South Africa`s health system. Current South African studies have revealed that decreased numbers of PNs in South Africa experience satisfaction. Therefore, this study explores the relationship between NNTs, NTLU and job satisfaction on both individual PN level and unit level in South Africa, and contributes to the international debate. Aim: To investigate the relationship between NNTs, NTLU and job satisfaction among professional nurses (PNs) in medical and surgical units in private and public hospitals in South Africa. Method: A cross-sectional survey design was used including 1166 PNs in 60 medical and surgical units in 55 private hospitals and seven national referral hospitals in South Africa who completed the survey. Measures: Relationships between NNTs, NTLU, job satisfaction and aspects of job satisfaction. Results: The three main NNTs performed were filling-in for non-nursing services (d=0.47), cleaning patient’s rooms and equipment (d=0.48) and obtaining supplies and equipment (d=0.64). Nationally more than 50% of PNs reported the following NTLU – comfort/talk with patients (62.2%), educating patients and family (57.9%) and develop or update nursing care plans/pathways (51.6%). PNs in private hospitals are more satisfied with their jobs than PNs in public hospitals. PNs were most dissatisfied with the opportunities for advancement (M = 2.60) and educational opportunities (M=2.64) aspects of job satisfaction. At unit level, NTLU positively correlated with three NNTs, and job satisfaction correlated mostly and negatively with NTLU. Conclusion: South African PNs perform many NNTs. However, the performance of NNTs does not influence their job satisfaction to the extent the NTLU does. Although PNs in this study indicated that NNTs do not have a significant influence on NTLU, it may reveal a greater issue, in that PNs have grown accustomed to performing NNTs as part of their workload. Clarifying professional nurses’ scope of practice and increased use of support services may provide PNs with more time to conduct nursing tasks which should improve job satisfaction. Recommendations for practice, education, policy/orientation programmes and research are made from the findings of this study. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014