Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / South Africa is a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world, resulting in much violence and trauma. Trauma debriefing models are used with groups and individuals in an attempt to facilitate the trauma recovery process and prevent the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There has been much debate on the efficacy of trauma debriefing over the past two decades with few qualitative studies exploring the utility of debriefing. A phenomenological methodology was used in this study, with the aim of understanding how participants experienced the process of trauma debriefing and what aspects were perceived as helpful or unhelpful. Semi-structured in- depth interviews were conducted with six adults who received debriefing following a single traumatic event, by volunteer lay counsellors from the Community Intervention Centre (CIC) based at the Milnerton Medi-Clinic.

A review of strategic thinking literature indicates that research has tended to focus on experiences contributing to strategic thinking, the strategic thinking perspectives that executives are likely to follow based on the environments in which they have developed their strategic competencies, and examining executives’ cognitive maps within the context of strategic management (O’ Shannassy 2003; Kutschera, and Ryan, 2009; Meyer, 2007). As an expansion of these principles and foundations of strategic thinking, this research was a study of the extent to which strategic thinking perspectives are utilised during macro environmental turbulence. According to Cravens et al. (2009: 31) volatility, reinvention, and fundamental changes in markets present unprecedented challenges to researchers and executives. “Unfortunately, too often traditional conceptual models and theories fail to provide adequate insight for coping with this new and rapidly changing business environment. Traditional market perspectives and conceptual logic may even blind researchers and strategic decision makers to the real threats present in the changing competitive landscape and new market space, and to opportunities for added value which can be uncovered and exploited” Cravens et al. (2009: 31). Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe was a major problem from 2003 to April 2009, when the country suspended its own currency and for the next five years the country continued to struggle with various macro environmental challenges. It is this backdrop that makes this research intriguing, where the soundness of any organisation is said to be crucially linked to the soundness of the macro environment, including macroeconomic policies as well as internal governance, market discipline; regulation and supervision (Louw and Venter, 2010). The research was a case study of BancABC Zimbabwe and focused on the period 2009 to 2013. BancABC Zimbabwe is a subsidiary of ABC Holdings Limited which is listed on the Botswana and Zimbabwe stock exchanges (BancABC, 2012). The aim of the study as the first key activity was to explore and describe how the BancABC executives responded to the critical macro environmental incidents identified, at a management or executive team perspective, and secondly, whether the rational reasoning or generative reasoning perspective was dominant during the period of turbulence. The goal is to gain insights of the strategic thinking process followed by executives during a period of macro-environmental turbulence. Literature defines strategic thinking concept as the cognitive process undertaken by executives in relation to problem solving in the business context. Two main perspectives are discussed: Strategic thinking as a science (rational thinking) is the prescriptive, structured nature of strategic thinking; arguments are that it is a less complex perspective for executives to adopt. Strategic thinking as an art (generative thinking) is the perspective that allows the strategist to think outside the box and be more creative about solving strategic problems. The discussion presents how the two perspectives can be used to complement each other and provide a more robust strategic thinking framework. The multi-perspective approach to strategic thinking recommends the right balance between analysis, intuition and creativity can be used to create new frameworks and innovative solutions. The ability to balance these strategic thinking perspectives enables executives to solve strategic problems (Linkov, 1999). The research findings highlighted the effect of time and availability of information on the strategic thinking perspective adopted by executives during times of uncertainty. It was noted that when time and information were available, executives appeared to use the rational strategic thinking perspective, while if there was limited time and information to solve problems the generative thinking perspective was dominantly used. Further the importance of integrative strategic thinking which facilitates the use of both intuition and analysis when solving strategic problems in a turbulent macro environment was also highlighted. The research thesis adopted the structure of a case study, relying on the critical incident technique to create the context of the study; and can be used to explore and discuss strategic thinking for teaching purposes. The results of the study can be recognised as a contribution towards the development of strategic thinking particularly in times of turbulence. It can also form the basis for future studies in the context of strategic thinking.

Certain individuals, such as police officers, are exposed to traumatic events as part of the occupational roles they fulfill. In order to prevent psychological illnesses; namely the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that results from work-related traumatic incidents, psychological interventions have been developed such as Critical Incident Stress Debriefing. The aim of the study was to explore the experiences and the perceptions of police members stationed at the South African Police Service (SAPS) Head Office in Pretoria, regarding the effectiveness of Trauma Debriefing within the SAPS environment. The researcher was motivated to choose this subject as a result of the challenges he faced while working as a Psychometrist and a Debriefer within the SAPS. Furthermore, the lack of research and literature studies concerning the effectiveness of trauma debriefing motivated the researcher to conduct the study. The qualitative approach was utilized in this study, and interviews were used to gather data about the experiences and perceptions of police members regarding the effectiveness of trauma debriefing. Utilizing an interview schedule, the researcher interviewed 10 respondents who were functional members of the SAPS. A systematic sampling method was used to select suitable respondents for the study. The type of research used was that of applied research, as the intention was to answer practical questions about the effectiveness of trauma debriefing within the SAPS. The exploratory design was utilized in this study, since there was limited information about the experiences and perceptions of police members in existence. The purpose of using this design was thus to explore the perceptions and experiences of police members regarding the effectiveness of trauma debriefing in order to provide new information about the topic. The researcher believes that this research will provoke some thought about new scientific research into this field of study. A discussion on the theoretical overview on trauma debriefing focused on the goals and theories of debriefing. In addition, a theoretical overview of the debriefing model adopted by the SAPS, the benefits of debriefing, the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and critical perspectives with regard to the effectiveness of trauma debriefing. The research findings indicated that trauma debriefing has been viewed and experienced by most respondents as good. Most police members perceived trauma debriefing as effective. Furthermore, police members perceived trauma debriefing as management=s support. The research findings however also indicated that trauma debriefing should be pro-active rather than reactive. Some respondents felt that debriefing should include an element of monitoring members, in order to check their progress. In addition, the study showed that there is a lack of follow-up services to debriefing cases attended. / Dissertation (MSoc.Sci (Employee Assistance Programme))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Social Work / unrestricted

To encounter children who are being abused or neglected The nurse´s actions and experiences

This thesis deals with the implementation of the Psychosocial Intervention Service System within the environment of the emergency medical services. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze and identify the problems and causes hindering the implementation of the Psychosocial Intervention Service System. In addition, the thesis analyzes the attitudes, intentions and responsibilities of the parties directly involved in the implementation or affected by this policy, and to identify the applied public policy instruments by which the implementation is realized. The first section focuses on a brief theoretical introduction that deals with the institutional theory, the implementation process and the outlining of the content of the Psychosocial Intervention Service System, which includes stressful situations, their negative effects, psychosocial interventional care and the theory of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) as one of the possible methods used to eliminate the negative effects of stress and traumata. The main analytical and research part of this thesis attempts at answering the questions related to the thesis objective, i.e. what factors affect the implementation, what framework applies to the implementation of the project, what interactions take place among the individual parties...

Häufig werden bei der Implementierung von QM-Modellen die damit verbundenen Lernsituationen und die Lernanforderungen der Mitarbeiter nicht berücksichtigt. Durch das Qualitätsmanagement werden jedoch neue Situationen im Arbeitsalltag definiert, die vom Mitarbeiter erfüllt oder geschaffen werden. Diese Veränderungen bzw. Ziele stellen besondere Lernanforderungen an die Tätigkeitsabläufe und individuellen Kompetenzen von Altenpflegekräften. Die vorliegende Untersuchung verhilft zu einer Aufklärung des Zusammenhangs von Lernen und Qualitätsmanagement, mit Blick auf spezifische Lernanforderungen und individuelle Kompetenzentwicklung von Mitarbeitern in Altenpflegeeinrichtungen. Diese Arbeit verfolgt die Zielstellung, Lernanforderungen und Lernbereiche durch Erweiterung und Entwicklung individueller Kompetenzen von Altenpflegekräften bei der Implementierung von Qualitätsmanagement und im Rahmen der Qualitätsentwicklung zu erheben und miteinander zu vergleichen. Im Mittelpunkt stehen dabei die Analyse der Bewältigung von Alltagsanforderungen von Altenpflegepersonal sowie die Untersuchung von Situationsbeschreibungen und kritischen Ereignissen (Critical Incidents) mittels der Critical Incident Technique sowie weiterhin Maßnahmen zur Veränderung von strukturellen und organisatorischen Abläufen und Handlungen in der Betreuung und Pflege von Bewohnern in Altenpflegeeinrichtungen. Die Ergebnisse der Untersuchung zeigen auf, dass Qualitätsentwicklung auf der einen Seite Kompetenzentwicklung, aber andererseits auch eine Entwicklung von Defiziten und einen Kompetenzverlust der Mitarbeiter begünstigen kann, und Kompetenzentwicklung benötigt. Weiterhin werden organisatorische und strukturelle Einflüsse auf die Kompetenzentwicklung sowie die erforderlichen Veränderungen und Voraussetzungen erläutert, um überhaupt ein Lernen und die Entwicklung von Kompetenzen zu ermöglichen.

EMS personnel were examined for Post Traumatic Stress symptoms and the usefulness of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) using the Los Angeles Symptom Checklist (LASC) and a demographics questionnaire. This study revealed that women in this group show higher PTSD symptoms than male coworkers. Level of Training (LOT) of the EMS provider did not demonstrate a significant difference in whether a provider developed PTSD. EMS personnel receiving debriefing actually suffered greater levels of PTSD than those that did not receive debriefing. And 16% of EMS providers in this study suffered from PTSD, while approximately 20% suffered from partial PTSD or PTSS. The results suggest that there are high levels of PTSD within the EMS community, especially in women. This study also suggests that CISD does not help with PTSD symptoms and may actually worsen them.

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Bakgrund: Specialistsjuksköterskan i en prehospital miljö ställs inför utmaningar när en svår luftväg inte längre kan hanteras genom basal luftvägshantering. Denna situation kräver spetskompetens inom avancerad luftvägshantering och anestesi, samt särskilda hjälpmedel. Inom vissa regioner finns en prehospital förstärkningsenhet som har som uppgift att komplettera ordinarie verksamhet med spetskompetens när det finns behov av avancerad luftvägshantering. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att studera anestesisjuksköterskors strategier vid hantering av svår luftväg i en prehospital förstärkningsenhet. Metod: En kvalitativ studie med datainsamling via enkät tillämpades och analyserades med kritisk incident teknik (CIT). Sexton anestesisjuksköterskor i en prehospital förstärkningsenhet i Sverige besvarade enkäten. Resultat: Analysen ledde fram till fyra betydelsefulla strategier för att hantera en svår luftvägprehospitalt. Förberedelse i att ställas inför en svår luftväg, mental förberedelse på väg ut på larm, möjligheten att lägga upp en primär samt en sekundär plan tillsammans med kollegan och att våga agera direkt var strategier som identifierades för att hantera en svår luftvägprehospitalt. Detsamma gällde att ta beslut i tid, att flytta patienten så att omhändertagandet inte behövde anpassas i onödan av omständigheter som kanske gick att undvika, att skapa åtkomst och insyn till patientens luftväg och ha närhet till egen utrustning vid hantering av en svår luftväg. Kollegan, teamkänsla, kommunikation, igenkännande, förståelse för varandras uppdrag och kännedom om varandras arbetssätt och utrustning var framgångsfaktorer för att få ett bra och effektivt teamarbete runt den svårt sjuka patienten. Utrustning som normalt inte fanns i en akutambulans som videolaryngoskop, endotrakealtub förberedd med ledare, kapnograf och en bra sug var framgångsfaktorer för att hantera en svår luftväg prehospitalt. Slutsats: Resultatet kan komplettera specialistutbildningar och introduktionsutbildningar för att göra specialistsjuksköterskan bättre förberedd på luftvägshantering i en prehospital miljö. Kunskapen kan bidra till en större förståelse för hur den svåra luftvägen på olika sätt kan undvikas eller hanteras. Basal luftvägshantering skall ambulanssjuksköterskan behärska i sin akutambulans men för hantering av den svåra luftvägen behövs särskild spetskompetens, hjälpmedel och förmåga.