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- The massive global nursing shortage in health care settings increases nurses’ workloads and complicates workflow. Health care personnel employed in public hospitals generally work under appalling working conditions. As disease burdens increase, high vacancy rates and workloads increase, thereby producing chronic staff shortages. Nursing managers can commit to their role in designing and maintaining strategies for effective management of human resources for health. The purpose of the current study was to explore and determine the views of nurse managers regarding staff turnover and retention, and make recommendations to improve nurse retention. An exploratory, descriptive, qualitative study was conducted using purposive sampling to select nurse managers at a selected hospital in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 18 nurse managers from the hospital. The FGDs were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis from which four themes were generated, namely: staff turnover challenges; current retention strategies; measures to improve retention; and strategies to strengthen management. The participants believed that excessive workload and the lack of human resources compromised the quality and efficiency of patient care. Retention strategies recommended included: improving benefits and rewards; increasing staff development; developing nursing support systems; maintaining adequate resources for optimal functioning; using emerging technology applications; and strengthening leadership roles. The current study revealed weak retention measures in the selected hospital and recommended new and improved retention measures to retain nurses and curtail turnover.
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- We study how seasonal climate affects influenza–pneumonia (I-P) mortality using monthly health and climate data over the past 20 years, reduced to mean annual cycle and statistically correlated. Results show that I-P deaths are inversely related to temperature, humidity, and net solar radiation in the United States, South Africa, and Puerto Rico (r < −0.93) via transmission and immune system response. The I-P mortality is 3–10 times as high in winter as in summer, with sharp transitions in autumn and spring. Public health management can rely on seasonal climate-induced fluctuations of I-P mortality to promote healthy lifestyle choices and guide efforts to mitigate epidemic impacts.
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- Nonverbal communication is an inevitable art to be effectively mastered by nurses. Nurse nonverbal communication has many benefits when it is effective. For instance, nonverbal communication is important to convey affective and emotional information, and demonstrate respect for and build therapeutic relationships with older patients. As the older population is growing fast worldwide, effective nonverbal communication with older patients is an essential skill for nurses and will improve patients’ satisfaction and the quality of care. Therefore, this article presents a model to guide effective nonverbal communication between nurses and older patients. A Grounded Theory approach guided the study. Data were collected between July 2018 and January 2020 through overt participant observations and individual interviews. Purposive and theoretical sampling were used to select 13 clinically experienced nurses, 4 nursing students, and 8 older adults. Data analysis encompassed open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. The results showed that effective nonverbal communication emerged as the co-phenomenon hinged within context and/or environment and is influenced by certain factors. This model, which is in support of person-centered communication and care, advocates for effective nonverbal communication between nurses and older patients.
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- 2022| SAGE PublicationsEffective communication between nurses and patients is an important factor to quality nursing care but ineffective nonverbal communication could take a toll on health care. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence nonverbal communication between nurses and hospitalized older adults could help solve communication problems, thus improve nursing care. A sample of 13 nurses and 4 student nurses from two hospitals in Cameroon participated in the study. Data were collected using participant observations and semi-structured interviews, and analyzed using open coding and constant comparative analysis. Three categories were identified as influencing factors: nurse views of hospitalized older adults, hospitalized older adult-related factors, and nurse intrinsic factors. Effective nurses’ nonverbal communication with hospitalized older adults relies mostly on nurses’ intrinsic factors. Identification and nurturing of the positive nurse intrinsic factors are important to develop effective nonverbal communication skills among nurses.
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- Background: Occupationally acquired tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are challenges faced by healthcare workers (HCWs) dealing with TB infection and those co-infected with HIV. The South African Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) of 1993 obliges employers to provide safe working environments. Protection of HCWs from healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) at work is dependent on correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 respirators. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to evaluate N95 respirator compliance among HCWs, and to determine the perceived barriers to wearing these, in a public hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Methods: A quantitative descriptive study was conducted from May to July 2015; 328 HCWs were randomly selected from a total population of 2 200. Of these, 280 HCWs who had been employed for at least one month participated in the study. Spearman’s chi-squared correlation was used to establish evidence of test-retest reliability for the questionnaire. SPSS Statistics was used for data analysis. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics; frequencies and percentages are reported. Results: Two hundred and eighty responses were received (85.4%); 98.5% were from nurses. Self-reported compliance with the N95 respirator was poor; and respirators were used incorrectly. A respiratory protection policy was accessible to 42.8% of the respondents. Only 20 (7.1%) of HCWs acknowledged receiving respiratory protection training. Barriers to wearing N95 respirator were hairstyles (46.4%), make-up (42.9%), high environmental temperatures (60.7%), and interference with communication (65.7%). Conclusion: The Department of Health, as the employer, needs to take accountability for HCW protection from TB at work by enforcing HCWs’ compliance; training HCWs to perform self-fit tests each time they don respirators; training individual fit testers to conduct fit tests; training HCWs and maintenance staff about the importance of air flows; and ensuring policy accessibility.
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