Academic literature on the topic 'Nursing – Botswana'

The concern for ethical principles and values is not limited to health professionals alone. However, ethical principles in nursing act as safety valves for social control to prevent professional misconduct and abuse of the rights of clients. As a result of colonial experience, developing countries like Botswana usually follow the European lead, especially examples from the UK. This article examines the ethical problems and dilemmas associated with rural nursing practice in Botswana, a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa. The major ethical problems identified are related to the distribution of and access to health resources in rural communities. It is proposed that nurses must assume responsibility in the field of access and allocation by working collaboratively with governments and other professional bodies, and that nurses as a global community must work together as a team to support each other.

Background: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness globally. In Botswana about 60% of blindness is due to cataract. Health services in Botswana are free, as are cataract services. Despite the free health services offered, the Batswana do not fully utilize the available eye care services especially the cataract services. Many Batswana access health care in public hospitals, where patients may have to wait for long periods for clinic appointments and surgery. Research question: What are the perceptions that elderly persons in Mathangwane village in Botswana, have of cataracts and cataracts services? Aim: To explore and describe the perceptions of elderly persons in Mathangwane about cataracts and cataract services. Objectives: 1. Explore and describe elderly persons' perceptions of cataracts; 2. Explore and describe elderly persons' perceptions of cataract services; 3. Explore reasons for use and non-use of current cataract services. Methods: Qualitative exploratory descriptive methods were used. A qualitative study design with purposeful sampling was used to identify participants for interviews and focus group discussion. Semi-structured interviews with seven participants aged sixty-five years and older with diagnosed cataract as well as a focus group with six of the seven participants were conducted. Data was analysed using a content analysis approach. Results: Five themes emerged from the interviews and a focus group discussion: i. Cataract as the 'spider web'; ii. Curing cataract with traditional herbs; iii. Cataract a problem of the elderly caused by modem food; iv. The burden of cataract blindness: 'mealie on the fire'; v. The ambivalent voice of elderly persons about cataract services. Conclusion: Findings from this study show that the participants had a general understanding of what cataract is and they had a particular description for this. Both positive and negative feelings were expressed in relation to the services available. Although cataract surgery was perceived to restore vision a major concern of the elderly persons was in relation to delays they experienced while waiting for the cataract to fully mature. Despite the free services offered at community level there is a great need for affordable and accessible transportation services for elderly persons utilising the cataract services.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-89).<br>The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Botswsana women who are diagnosed with both HIV/AIDS and cervival cancer. A phenomenological descriptive qualitative research design was therefore appropriate to answer the research question.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012.<br>Background: Preceptorship refers to a teaching and learning approach through which a well experienced clinician is contracted to provide clinical teaching, supervision, role‐modeling of professional and clinical practice skills and assessment of students in a clinical setting. This approach often involves three groups of people, namely: faculty, students, and clinicians (preceptors). The preceptor in this study refers to a registered nurse who supervises and conducts clinical assessment of students in a clinical area, while at the same time is responsible for patient care. The focus of this study was to explore preceptors’ opinions regarding the implementation of preceptorship in the diploma in the nursing curriculum diploma in the nursing curriculum in Botswana. Emphasis was placed on seeking information on how preceptorship is implemented, the strengths and challenges regarding its implementation and suggestions as to how it should be strengthened to contribute positively towards teaching and learning of students. Methodology: A mixed cross‐sectional descriptive design, using a survey was used. . The design was adopted because of its ability to provide a broad understanding of the concept under study by allowing participants to share their experiences and opinions about a specified situation. Both the qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously. A standardized self‐developed structured questionnaire using both closed ended and few open ended questions and consisting of scaled self‐report items and checklists was used to collect data from forty‐four (44) preceptors and three (3) third year level coordinators from the three (3) health training institutions. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, while the qualitative data were analyzed for frequency of common themes. Descriptive statistics in the form of frequency tables and charts, as well as measures of central tendencies, were used in the analysis of quantitative data. Results: The findings revealed that preceptorship program was not well coordinated as there were no preceptorship manuals to guide the implementation of preceptorship program. On the positive side, however, preceptors felt comfortable and competent to supervise and assess students, despite the fact that most of them had not received preceptorship training or orientation. With regard to preceptor support, it was evident that there was need for major support in regard to improved communication between preceptor and faculty, improved support by the health facility manager and the need for strengthening preceptor training and orientation. The majority of the respondents have recommended for preceptorship orientation /training targeted at addressing some of the following topics: Student and preceptor roles, curriculum requirements, clinical teaching and assessment skills, leadership skills and how to access resources from the health training institutions. A significant number of preceptors felt that it was important to receive feedback about students’ progress from faculty and to receive feedback from students regarding their experiences in the clinical internship sites. Lastly, preceptors also felt that there was need for introducing incentives into the preceptorship program Conclusion The key areas that emerged from the study indicated an uncoordinated and unstructured preceptorship program in the diploma nursing curriculum. Preceptor support is limited as evidenced by report of lack of training or orientation of preceptors to their preceptorship role. To ensure sustainability of preceptorship program there is need to improve the following areas: preceptorship training and orientation, and preceptorship support by both the health training institution and the health facility managers. Key words: Preceptors, preceptorship, orientation, socialization, student assessment, and faculty support, clinical teaching, mentor, clinical supervisor.

Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity is an increasing health problem among adolescents due to unhealthy eating habits and inadequate physical activity. There are 434,000 (21%) adolescents aged 10-19 years in Botswana. The prevalence of overweight among adolescents aged 12-18 years in 2011 in urban private secondary schools in Botswana was 27.1% (192/702) and 13.1% (93/702) in public secondary schools. There is, however, a paucity of data on eating habits and physical activity behaviours and no published evidence was located on the prevalence of overweight among 13-15 year old adolescents in public junior urban secondary schools in Botswana. The determinants of adopting a healthy lifestyle such as information (knowledge), motivation (intentions) and behavioural skills (self-efficacy) have been identified in cross-sectional studies in other countries, but not in Botswana. A culturally suited lifestyle intervention program aimed at motivating adolescents to adopt a healthy lifestyle was not located in the published literature. In the absence of such a lifestyle intervention program for adolescents, the development, implementation and evaluation of the intervention for this study was guided by the Information, Motivation and Behavioural skills (IMBs) model to measure change in eating habits and physical activity behaviours of adolescents in Botswana. Methods: A 2-part study was conducted from 1 November 2015 to18 March 2016. Study One - three research designs were employed: 1) a descriptive design for development of a 3-part questionnaire from existing published literature; 2) a mixed methods approach to validate the prototype questionnaire by determining the index of content validity (n=10 respondents), face validity by cognitive interviewing (n=33 respondents who were scholars), and reliability by test-retest pilot testing (same 33 respondents); and 3) a cross-sectional survey by validated questionnaire of n= 252 respondents' (scholars) eating habits, physical activity behaviours and weight, height and waist circumference to determine the prevalence of overweight. Results from the cross-sectional survey provided baseline data for Study Two. For Study Two a descriptive design was employed to develop and describe a lifestyle intervention movement (LIMO) program followed by a pragmatic randomised controlled trial for implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of the LIMO program (n=25 respondents in the intervention trial arm; n=21 in the control arm from Study One). Null hypothesis: A lifestyle intervention movement (LIMO) program guided by the Information, Motivation and Behavioural skills (IMBs) model will not result in less fatty and sugar intake, an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, engaging in physical activity 6 or more times a week and doing exercises, a reduction in sedentary behaviour and an increase in nutrition knowledge (P≥0.05). Alternate hypothesis: A lifestyle intervention movement (LIMO) program guided by the Information, Motivation and Behavioural skills (IMBs) model will result in less fatty and sugar intake, an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, engaging in physical activity 6 or more times a week and doing exercises, a reduction in sedentary behaviour and an increase in nutrition knowledge (P≥0.05). Results: Study One: Good response rate of 95%. The mean age of the respondents was 14.3 years (SD 0.79); mean body mass index (BMI) was 20.1 kg/m2 (SD 3.9) and mean waist circumference score was 71.2 cm (SD 8.71). There were more females in the sample (147/252, 58.3%) than males (105/252, 41.7%). Most of the respondents (153/252, 53.6%) had a low socio-economic status as categorised by the present study. The majority (188/252, 74.6%) had a normal BMI and few (22/252, 8.7%) were underweight. Twenty-seven (10.7%) respondents were overweight, 4/252 (1.6%) were obese and 11/252 (4.4%) were obese with risk. Although few respondents had an abnormal waist circumference (females 17/252, 6.7%; males 14/252, 5.6%) more females (131/252, 52%) than males (90/252, 35.7%) had a normal waist circumference. The most frequently eaten foods were sweets (132/252, 52.4%) and snacks (92/252, (38.1%). Television adverts were sometimes (137/252, 62.3%) considered to be honest. Parents controlled slightly more than half (128/252, 50.8%) of the respondents' food choices whereas peers had little influence (21/252, 8.3%). Of the food types, most ate breakfast comprising of coffee and bread (115/252, 45.6%). Dinner was mostly eaten at home with the whole family (181/252, 71.8%). Of the listed foodstuffs, the majority preferred foods that contained sugar (41/252, 16.3%). Slightly more than half (135/252, 53.6%) of the respondents walked 6 or more times per day each week and more (150/252, 58.7%) reported that they did get exercise. Many intended to change their eating habits (220/252, 87.3%) and physical activity behaviours (143/252, 56.7%) and reported self-efficacy to do so (180/252, 71.4% and 174/252, 69.1% respectively). The majority of respondents (142/252, 56.3%) failed (≤49%) the nutrition knowledge test. The prevalence of overweight was 16.7% (42/252) by body mass index (BMI) and 12.3% (31/252) by waist circumference (WC) respectively. Study Two: There was no statistically significant difference in eating habits between the trial arms (fruit P=0.275, vegetables P= 0.604, sweets P=0.066, fatty foods P=0.402); although there was a difference in sugar consumption this was not statistically significant. There was no statistically significant difference in physical activity (walking 6 times or more a day each week) between trial arms (P=0.267), in doing exercise (P=0.288) and in sedentary behaviour (P=0.362). There was a difference in nutrition knowledge between trial arms but it was not statistically significant (P=0.079). Conclusion and recommendations: Although adolescents had good intentions and self-efficacy to change their eating and physical activity behaviours they engaged in unhealthy behaviours. The LIMO program demonstrated minimal but promising effects on changing behaviours. However further research is needed to determine the best intervention to impact behaviour change.

Background This study attempted to identify as far as possible the extent of the children’s nursing workforce in five selected countries in the sub-Saharan African region. Strengthening children’s nursing training has been recommended as a primary strategy to reduce the underfive mortality rate in African nations, including South Africa and Malawi. The current level of data monitoring capacity worldwide means that it is not possible to disaggregate the children’s nursing workforce in countries in the World Health Organisation African Region from the data provided by the WHO Global Atlas of the Health Workforce database. Yet developing an accurate depiction of the specialist children’s nursing workforce is a necessary step towards optimizing children’s health service delivery. Methods In attempting to respond to this need, this study adheres to a collaborative research philosophy, using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, incorporating a scoping documentary review, together with quantitative (surveys and case study compilation) and qualitative (interview) components collected independently and then integrated during analysis and interpretation, to generate data addressing three related questions: how many children’s nurses are believed to be in practice nationally; how many such nurses are recorded on the nursing register nationally; and how many children’s nurses are being produced through training. Results Findings suggest there are approximately 3 728 children’s nurses across the five countries in this study. A combined total of 260 children’s nurses are produced through training each year across the five countries on average. Survey responses, interview data and content analysis of items identified through the scoping review suggest that adequate information regarding the children’s nursing workforce is not currently available to inform decision-making. Conclusion In conclusion, it is hoped that the data generated might contribute towards identifying the size of the children’s nursing workforce, as a first step towards identifying what would represent a viable and sustainable regional children’s nursing workforce for the future.