Transition of the newly qualified nurses from an educational focus to professional practitioner has long been identified as a conflicted time of critical personal and professional adjustment and staggering reality shock. This study explored the experiences of newly qualified R425 professional nurses during their first year of practice in the Eastern Cape Province at three selected hospitals. The study followed a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive design using a phenomenological approach. The sample included newly qualified professional nurses in their first year of employment. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants. Data collection was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews from ten (n=10) participants. Each interview took about 45 minutes. Ethical codes of research were followed. Data was coded manually and analyzed using content analysis Four themes and seven subthemes emerged from the data collected The findings revealed positive experiences such as sense of belonging and feelings of independence; negative experiences such as feelings of rejection, as well as management challenges The study identified challenges which impacted on the performance of new nurses, namely shortage of human and material resources and inadequate support in the working environment Recommendation: Introducing mandatory education by service institutions on transition as well as extended, sequential and structured orientation and mentoring programs for newly qualified professional nurses as this will assist them in their career development Managers to use different strategies in enhancing quality environments in order to reduce frustration for these newly qualified nurses.

M.Cur. / By studying the literature, the use of the computer in the administration of health services and a nursing unit in overseas countries, was described. Criteria were set to measure the use of the computer in a South African hospital. The research done, showed that the computer is not used to its full capacity and that the nursing staff has a need for the better use of the computer. Aspects that need attention are the methods of communication, record keeping and the duplication of records as well as personnel administration and the relevant record keeping ...

A sample of motor vehicle accident victims hospitalized at Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, was chosen to analyze the relationship between hospital costs and the severity of the patient's injury or illness. Severity was measured using two scales, specifically, the Injury Severity Scale and the Abbreviated Injury Scale. Hospital costs were also measured, using two different methodologies. The first was the Per Diem costs that were derived by dividing all related annual costs by the number of patient separation days in 1975. A Per Diem episodic cost was determined by multiplying length of stay by the daily average cost. The second approach used a step-down technique that distributed all non-patient care related hospital services across direct patient care departments, cost centres or programs. Unit costs were then developed for each cost centre, depending upon their annual workload. The 1975 medical record for each patient in the sample was analyzed to determine the number of work units used in each cost centre during the patient's hospital stay. A Step-Down episodic cost was determined by totalling all costs from each cost centre that provided services to the patient. A paired t-Test did not show a significant difference between the Per Diem and Step-Down episodic costs. It was assumed that the range of severity of the patient in the sample weakened this t-Test, severity measured by I.S.S. was grouped in low, medium, and high categories, or when severity was measured by A.I.S., the paired t-Test did show that there was a significant difference in the two costing methodologies. The regression analysis identified a significant relationship between both episodic costs and severity. The strongest relationship occurred when severity was measured by I.S.S. and costs were determined, using the Step-Down methodology (R² = 0.26, F = 35.45). When other related independent variables (i.e., death as outcome and operation not performed) and all interaction terms were introduced, the regression co-efficient increased to R² = 0.45 and the F value increased to F = 24.9. Recommendations were made to include a severity rating on all hospitalized patients' records to assist in patient classification. A final outcome of this study was identifying the value of a Step-Down approach to determining hospital costs and identifying the limitations of the Per Diem methodology of hospital accounting. / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

The purpose of this study is to describe the communication networks in the emergency department of a large general hospital. , The system was composed of 104 full-time permanent staff members, from the Director to the Cleaners. A data-set, using a roster-type questionnaire and demographic data sheet, was collected. The data were processed using a network analysis programme compiled by William Richards Jr. Analysis showed that the system was structured as follows: Network 1, Getting The Job Done - .353, Network 2, planning or innovations - .294, and Network 3, socialization or tension relief - .311. Where 0.0 indicates complete randomness and 1.0 indicates complete structuring. Two distinct groups were identified and found to be a function of the geographical space in which the members carry out their activities: namely, the psychiatric assessment unit and the remainder of the emergency department. It was concluded that communication networks in the emergency department are closely knit, reflecting the intense activities of the tasks carried on there, as well as the overlapping of multiple shifts and rotations. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

The thesis as a whole aims to demonstrate that the socialization model, presented in Chapter VIII, is an appropriate model for use in analysing mental hospital practices and that the classificatory schema based on it is appropriate for describing the processes at work in these practices. The classificatory schema itself takes into account (a) culturally embedded criteria for assessing patient behaviour and patterns of construing, (b) culturally embedded means of 'shaping' patient behaviour and patterns of construing, (c) culturally embedded forms of ambiguity latently presented in the appraising and shaping of patient behaviour and patterns of construing and (d) the potential ways in which this ambiguity can interfere with the process of patient resocialisation itself. The model serves to focus attention on two existential problems which members of staff face in committing themselves to their institutional roles: that of disclosing therapeutic rationale to patients and that of embodying this rationale in concrete commitments to patients.

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Medicine University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg for the Degree of Master of Medicine (Community Health) / The extremely complex fragmentation of health services in the greater South Africa has lead to confusion, duplication and uncoordinated planning. This study assesses the hospital component of the health services in one discrete geographical area where service responsibilities are particularly complex. Each of the hospitals identified within the study area was visited and, after a short conducted tour, detailed information was obtained on a standard questionnaire during interviews with senior hospital personnel. Final detail was obtained by inspection of various functional components in each hospital. Proposals regarding the process of regionalising the hospital services in a future post-apartheid era (when political boundaries, particularly homeland boundaries, have disappeared and the health services can be rationalised under a unified health authority) are made. The major finding is that, while some expansion is needed, the existing facilities can be reorganised into a functional complex at minimal cost and limited disruption of services. / AC 2018

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University