Walter Sisulu University
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Cultivation of medicinal plants in South Africa: A solution to quality assurance and consistent availability of medicinal plant materials for commercialization
Get PDFIsolation and Biological Investigation of Bioactive Compounds from Croton grattissimus (Burch) in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Get PDFPerceptions of Principals and Teachers about factors affecting leadership and management practices in Qumbu education district schools
No full textThe perceptions of Nursing service and Operational Managers on the role of nursing sub-professionals in the Health Service System at Mhlontlo Municipality
Get PDFSouth Africa is experiencing a serious shortage of nurses, especially nursing sub-professionals. The Eastern Cape Province is among the provinces with highest percentage of vacancies for nurses in all nursing categories. Nursing shortage has compromised South African health care services as health services are mostly supported by this group of health professionals. As a result of this shortage, rural health services have for a long time depended on the nursing sub-professionals to perform basic nursing services. This category is however also decreasing, which makes it difficult for nursing professionals to cope with the amount of work. South African rural health centres put pressure on professional nurses to do some of the health care activities that are meant to be done by medical doctors. The aim of the study was to explore the role and value of nursing sub-professionals in the health care system as viewed by the nursing managers. A qualitative exploratory study was conducted to get the perceptions of nursing service managers and operational managers on the role and value of nursing sub-professionals in the health service. A purposive sample of 23 participants was selected and interviewed. Most of the participants viewed the retention of nursing sub-professionals as crucial in the health service system. The participants saw sub-professionals as playing a vital role in the health services as the latter have a scope of practice that enables them to work independently. The reasons they put forth in support of their retention include reduction of litigations, easing the work load of professional nurses, sometimes performing non-nursing duties during crisis periods, reduction in the waiting time for patients/clients, and enabling professional nurses to perform more sophisticated professional duties which include management. Few managers viewed the existence of sub-professional nurses as increasing the work of nursing professionals. They felt that nursing sub-professionals worked under the supervision of nursing professionals. This, according to them, resulted in more work for nursing professionals who had to check and/or repeat what had been done in the name of supervision
Determinants of type 2 Diabetes mellitus among HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral drugs in the OR Tambo District, SA
Get PDFBackground: Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (DM) is increasing in the context of HIV/AIDS as a result of the long-term effects of ARVS. Little is documented in South Africa on the determinants of type 2 DM in HIV/AIDS population although the prevalence is high (Moyo, et al., 2014). The purpose of this study was to describe the determinants of type 2 diabetes mellitus among HIV/AIDS patients on ARVS in the OR Tambo District. Methods: A quantitative research methodology using a case control retrospective study was used to describe the determinants of type 2 DM among HIV/AIDS patients in OR Tambo District. A sample of 177 (33%) cases with HIV/AIDS and type 2 DM was selected using a one stage stratified sampling with allocation proportion to size of each stratum of the four sub-districts of OR Tambo District. For example KSD 80 cases, Nyandeni 43; Qaukeni 36 and Mhlontlo 18. Two non-diabetic patients with HIV/AIDS were selected as controls per case unpaired and totalled up to 354 (67%) controls. A self - administration questionnaire adopted from WHO stepwise surveillance tool was used for data collection. Results: Findings of the study revealed five determinants of type 2 diabetes mellitus grouped as the socio-demographic determinants, levels of physical activities, types of diets, arterial blood pressure and body weight and types of combination antiretroviral therapies used in HIV/AIDS therapy. In addition the association of type 2 DM with HIV was shown to include ARV complications, number of years on ARVS and the tri-therapy versus fixed dose combination. Conclusion: Type 2 DM is a major complication of ARVS experienced by the cases at n=108 (61%) compared to others such as lipodystrophy n=10 (5.6%), skin disorders n=7 (3.9%) and bad dreams n=2 (1%). Consequently a multi-morbidity situation co-exists among the cases creating as shift from as single disease to a multiple-disease focus namely ARVS, anti-DM, anti-HPT etc. Recommendations on the HIV/AIDS and type 2 DM awareness and care intervention strategy were made to improve the health outcomes of type 2 DM patients in HIV/AIDS context in OR Tambo District
Violence, abuse and discrimination: key factors militating against control of HIV/AIDS among the LGBTI sector
Get PDFConnecting with home, keeping in touch: physical and virtual mobility across stretched families in sub-Saharan Africa
Get PDFThere is a long history of migration among low-income families in sub-SaharanAfrica, in which (usually young, often male) members leave home to seek theirfortune in what are perceived to be more favourable locations. While the physicaland virtual mobility practices of such stretched families are often complex andcontingent, maintaining contact with distantly located close kin is frequently ofcrucial importance for the maintenance of emotional (and possibly material)well-being, both for those who have left home and for those who remain. Thisarticle explores the ways in which these connections are being reshaped by increas-ing access to mobile phones in three sub-Saharan countries–Ghana, Malawi andSouth Africa–drawing on interdisciplinary, mixed-methods research fromtwenty-four sites, ranging from poor urban neighbourhoods to remote ruralhamlets. Stories collected from both ends of stretched families present a worldin which the connectivities now offered by the mobile phone bring a differentkind of closeness and knowing, as instant sociality introduces a potential substi-tute for letters, cassettes and face-to-face visits, while the rapid resource mobiliza-tion opportunities identified by those still at home impose increasing pressures onmigrant ki
