M.Cur. (Nursing Sciences) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

D.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing Science) / The aim of the research was to generate a psychiatric nursing approach for adolescents experiencing mental health problems. Understanding by the psychiatric nurse of all the dimensions of the experience world of the adolescent with mental health problems. can contribute to the development of a psychiatric nursing approach. The psychiatric nurse in an adolescent unit can operationalise the guidelines of such an approach in order to rcalise hope and the quest for wholeness with the adolescent with mental health problems. Nowadays high expectations are put to the adolescent. The adolescent is confronted with prescriptions and expectations by a complex society. The psychiatric nurses in an adolescent unit of a private psychiatric hospital often experienced feelings of confusion. discouragement and frustration. That which they wanted the adolescent to achieve while in the unit. determined what kind of treatment he received. The psychiatric nurse has accepted the responsibility for the adolescent' s quest for wholeness (well-being) and for the changes that could be effected therapeutically. In addition the frame of reference of workbooks and thought books. programmes for adolescents with mental health problems. the desires of parents and the theories and models for adolescent development are used as the frame of reference for treatment. This deprives the adolescent with mental health problems of his expert role as the author and rewriter of his life-story. as well as of the own responsibility for the quest for wholeness and maturity. The researchercame to the conclusion that the adolescent with mental health problems should himself, on the one hand. give the main input in the establishment of programmes in an adolescent unit in a psychiatric hospital and on the other hand. for the writing and rewriting of his own life-story. If the psychiatric nurse wishes to obtain more knowledge and understanding of the experience world of the adolescent with mental health problems, she can, from the frame of reference of the adolescent himself, facilitate hope and the quest for wholeness in order to restore, maintain and promote mental health...

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing) / With modern psychiatric treatment, patients usually come into contact with as many as six different team members. These team members have their own particular treatment plans for patients. This has prompted the question: "How do patients experience their treatment by the interprofessional health team?" The aims of this study are as follows: • To explore psychiatric patients' experiences of their treatment by the interprofessional health team in a particular private psychiatric clinic. • To set basic guidelines which will promote the optimisation of treatment of psychiatric patients by the interprofessional health team, in order to prevent the aggravation of mental illness, emphasising the contribution of the psychiatric nurse.

M.Cur. / Man, as seen from a Christ-centred approach, was not only created in the image of God, but God also gave him the responsibility of acting as His representative on earth and of making full use of his God-given gifts, talents and potential. In this way man could become what God intended him to be. Man is a relationship creature, and when he accepts God as his personal Saviour, he should implement these God-given abilities in his relationship with himself, others, the community, nature and the biosphere, in such a way that the Spirit of Christ is embodied in it. Then the spiritual becomes the guideline, principal and motivator for meaningful human existence in the process of self-actualization. Because the Christian psychiatric nurse functions from this frame of reference, it is also applicable to her. The psychiatric nurse who today finds herself in psychiatric practice, is frequently subjected to fatigue and stress. The expectations that she sets herself and also the expectations the patient, family and community have of her, are enormous. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit she needs to change the science of psychiatric nursing into an enriching and skillful art so that the qualities of Jesus Christ are embodied in the fulfillment of her task, and so that she can answer her calling and duty - empathy with her fellow-man towards fulfillment, wholeness and maturity of faith. The purpose of this research is to establish whether the presentation of a structured enrichment programme, from a Christ-centred approach by the psychiatric nurse specialist, can enhance the process of self-actualization in the psychiatric nurse. A one-day .enrichment programme was presented to two groups of final-year student nurses to facilitate the process of self-actualization. An explanatory experimental research approach was used. The two groups were randomly divided int experimental and control groups. Pre- and post-tests were done on both experimental and control groups by completion of the POI measuring instrument. The Intervention, namely the structured enrichment programme, was done on the experimental groups only...

M.Cur. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The objective of this study was to explore clients' perceptions and expectations of therapeutic interaction with nurses at Escoval House Community Psychiatric Clinic in Durban. Following the shift of psychiatric care from institutionalised care to community based psychiatric care, it was anticipated that the findings of the study would help to sensitise the primary health care nurses and community psychiatric nurses on how clients perceive the way nurses interact with them. This would help the nurses to ensure satisfactory interactions that would be therapeutic and enhances clients' recovery and well -being. The study utilized Human Relations Counselling Model in exploring the clients' perceptions. An exploratory descriptive survey was used to conduct the study, The study combined both qualitative and quantitative methods for the purpose of triangulation. Ten participants were involved in a focus group and one-hundred and sixty clients participated by filling in questionnaires. Simple random sampling method was used to select participants for both the focus group interview and those who filled in the questionnaires. Data from the focus group was analysed manually using content analysis. Data was presented by participants' direct quotes. Data from the questionnaires was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). For the quantitative data analysis, frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the data. Findings of the study were presented in tables and graphs. Although previous studies on clients' satisfaction have reported clients' satisfaction with mental health service delivery, the findings of this study have revealed that gaps still exist in quality of care delivered to these clients. Findings show that there were mixed perceptions on the way nurse interact with clients during clients' monthly attendances. / Thesis (M.N.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The experience of verbal bullying at school may cause a female adolescent much distress. This distress can result in the adolescent experiencing life as traumatic and may influence her sense of well being negatively. Verbal bullying usually takes the form of name-calling, put-downs and insults. This can be very traumatic for adolescents and can lower their self-esteem, which may eventually lead to mental illness. The parents of adolescent learners often have the misconception that bullying is a normal part of a teenager’s life and are unaware of the distress it may cause the adolescent. The victimized adolescent should, therefore, be provided with support in order to avert the occurrence of mental illness. The goals of this study were to: • Explore and describe the experiences of adolescent girls regarding verbal bullying in secondary school settings. • Develop guidelines to assist mental health nursing specialists in helping adolescent girls to cope with bullying in secondary schools. The researcher used a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design with a phenomenological approach. The research population consisted of female learners in a secondary school setting. Purposive sampling was used in this study to identify participants. Data was collected by means of naïve sketches, one-to-one-interviews and field notes based on observations. Data was analyzed using Tesch’s method (in Creswell, 1994:190) of descriptive analysis. The identified themes were compared to available literature. The data collected from this study was used to develop guidelines to aid mental health nursing specialists to help adolescents to cope with verbal bullying.

M.Cur. (Psychiatric Nursing) / In view of statistics available there is a definite need for a primary mental health service for children in the Republic of South Africa. Very little literature is available on the functions of the child psychiatric nurse, in this regard. This study was done to determine the functions of the child psychiatric nurse in the deliverance of a primary mental health care service for children. It was done by using the opinions of practicing child psychiatrists and child psychiatric nurses in South Africa.