The effect of aldicarb on certain aspects of the ultrastructural organization in leaves and roots of Nicotiana tabacum

Treatment of young tobacco plants with the insecticide aldicarb (2-methyl-2-(methylthio) propionaldehyde 0-(methylcarbomoyl)oxime) resulted in ultrastructural changes usually associated with senescence of plant tissues.Starch grains and osmiophilic globules accumulated in the chloroplasts and some of the globules were released into the ground plasm and vacuole as the outer membranes of the chloroplasts ruptured. Deformation of mitochondrial cristae of leaf and root cells was accompanied by partial disintegration of the outer mitochondrial membrane, implying a decrease in respiratory efficiency. Disintegration of the plasmalemma, tonoplast and cytoplasm was observed after treatment with aldicarb

Leadership, job satisfaction and intention to leave among registered nurses in the North West and Free State provinces of South Africa

Background: The nurse leadership of a hospital is identified as the single most important aspect of the practice environment that impacts nurse outcomes. When nurses are satisfied with their jobs, they tend to remain with their employers and become more productive in their workplaces. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between leadership, job satisfaction and intentions to leave among registered nurses (RNs) working in hospitals in the North West and Free State provinces of South Africa. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was adopted. The population (N = 680) with the sample (n = 204) included RNs in medical–surgical units in both private and public hospitals in the two provinces. Data were collected using the RN4CAST questionnaire. Results: RNs were satisfied with the items pertaining to leadership except for praise and recognition (55.7%). They also indicated high levels of overall job satisfaction (70.5%) but were dissatisfied with wages (50%), study leave (40.9%) and opportunities for advancement (40.1%). Furthermore, 46.1% of the RNs intended to leave their current hospitals. The results indicated a relationship between leadership and job satisfaction (r = 0.47; p = 0.00) and between intention to leave and job satisfaction (d = 0.50). Conclusion: The nurse managers played a significant role influencing RN’s level of job satisfaction, while job satisfaction was highly correlated with intention to leave. The nurse leadership can improve job satisfaction by giving praise and recognition to the RNs for jobs well done, and RNs should be afforded the opportunity to advance their careers through further studies. Keywords: Leadership,  job satisfaction, intention to leave, Nurs

Teaching The Practice Of Compassion To Nursing Students Within An Online Learning Environment: A Qualitative Study Protocol

Background: There is an increasing global demand for higher education to incorporate flexible delivery. Nursing education has been at the forefront of developing flexible online education and offering programs ‘anywhere and anytime’. In response to calls to teach compassion in nursing education, there is an abundance of literature concerning classroom teaching, but few online studies. Design: This paper presents a qualitative study protocol to explore the effectiveness of a compassion module taught to undergraduate nursing students within a digital learning environment. The protocol consists of an online knowledge intervention (compassion module) and pre- and post-intervention qualitative questions to explore and describe undergraduate nursing students’ understanding and learning about the practice of compassion toward patients, colleagues and self. Methods: Students will study the online compassion module over a two week period in a theory course in the final year of the Bachelor of Nursing. Students will participate in the study by responding to open-ended questions, administered through SurveyMonkey® before and after studying the online compassion module. Free text responses will be analysed thematically. The researchers will obtain institutional ethical approval. Discussion: This study protocol may generate new knowledge about how nursing students learn compassionate practice within an online learning environment. These findings could be used by nurse leaders and educators to develop empirically supported curricula and workplace cultures to foster the practice of compassion and resilience in the next generation of nurses

Female patients' experiences of conflicting expectations concerning pregnancy when getting long-term kidney dialysis

Aim: The aim was to explore and describe female patients experiences of the conflicting expectations concerning pregnancy when getting long-term kidney dialysis. Method: A descriptive phenomenological study was conducted. The context of the study referred to the dialysis unit in a level 3 hospital (an academic hospital) in Gauteng, South Africa, where patients receive haemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis on an outpatient basis. The study population comprised of female patients of childbearing age who received dialysis in this unit. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight participants who were purposively selected. Female patients who met the inclusion criteria and who wished to have children or declared conflict with significant family members about getting pregnant were invited to participate. Only one main question was asked: How do you experience the expectations of your husband/partner and other family members that you should get pregnant while the doctors and nurses tell you that you should not get pregnant while you are on kidney dialysis? Probing questions were used to make sure relevant and rich data were collected. Field notes made by the researcher during and immediately after the interviews added to an accurate description of the participants experiences. The recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim by the researcher. The interviews and field notes were read and re-read thereby allowing the researcher to get a good understanding of the initial whole of the data. Thereafter, the data were divided into units of meaning which were grouped into clusters of meanings that were then used to detect a provisional pattern to recognise the essential meanings (constituents). The constituents were linked to each other to define the essence of the phenomenon which represented the whole of the experiences. Findings: The essence (meaning) of the experiences was: being-for-oneself and beingfor- others in order to live with conflicting expectations regarding pregnancy when getting long-term kidney dialysis. The essence was supported by the following constituents (meaning units): living with contradictory expectations from their mothers and future families-in-law; living with cultural transition; and attempts to be composed by living in the present and hoping for the future. The description of the essence and substantiating constituents were followed by a discussion in which literature was used to add to the understanding of the essence the phenomenon The participants experienced their mothers and future families-in-law wished for them to bear grandchildren. Their mothers accepted their pregnancy limitation and supported their being-for-oneself whereas their future families-in-law demanded grandchildren and did not support their being-for-oneself but placed the burden of being-for-others on them. Participants demonstrated cultural transition by making the informed choice to postpone pregnancy until after a kidney transplant or by considering alternative methods of having children. However, future families-in-law who held on to traditional African cultural beliefs that necessitated women to bear children, placed demands on the participants being-forothers that they could not comply with. The participants attempted to avoid conflict by not discussing their pregnancy limitation. The participants experienced emotional pain related to the effect of childlessness on themselves as well as on their mothers, partners and supporting family members. The possibility of pregnancy after having a kidney transplant gave participants, their partners and their family members the hope of having children in the future and resolving the conflict in expectations they were experiencing in the present time.Dissertation (MCur)--University of Pretoria, 2016.tm2016Nursing ScienceMCurUnrestricte

The nature of community health care centre practice environments in a province in South Africa

The practice environment plays an important role in nursing. Currently, limited information seems to exist on the nature of practice environments within the primary health care (PHC) context of the public health care sector of South Africa. This study describes the demographic profile of community health care centres (CHCs) and professional nurses (PNs) as well as the current status of the practice environment of nurses in the PHC context. A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used. Firstly, demographic data of the CHCs (N=41; n=26) was obtained. Secondly, PNs (N=291; n=195) were surveyed using the Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index (PESNWI) and questions focussing on their demographic profile. The demographic profile of CHCs and PNs was described and the confirmatory analysis of the PES-NWI showed that the survey was valid in the PHC context of South Africa. The Cronbach alpha ranged between 0.68 and 0.86. Nurses disagreed that the sub-scales named staffing and resource adequacy and nurse participation in PHC/CHC affairs were present in their practice environments. Development and implementation of a positive practice environment programme for the South African PHC context could improve the wellbeing of nurses and assist in the delivery of quality care to patient

Perspectives of nurse graduates, hospital managers and mentors regarding transition support needs during compulsory community service in South Africa

Aim: The study addresses transition support needs of nurse graduates during their compulsory community service, giving the perspectives of nurse graduates, hospital managers, and mentors. Method: A qualitative descriptive design was applied, with participants from three hospitals in South Africa. Nineteen nurse graduates participated in three focus groups, and three nurse managers, five unit managers and twelve mentors participated in individual interviews. Data were analysed through open coding using thematic analysis. Results: Four themes emerged: Structured compulsory community service programme for nurse graduates; nursing staff support during compulsory community service; learning opportunities during compulsory community service; and theory–practice gap in nursing education. Conclusion: A structured compulsory community service for nurses can improve transition for nurse graduates in South Africa. The South African Nursing Council should develop guidelines on implementation of community service, while collaboration between nursing education institutions and hospitals can close the theory-practice gap

The quality of doctoral nursing education in South Africa

Background: The number of doctoral programmes in nursing has multiplied rapidly throughout the world. This has led to widespread concern about nursing doctoral education, specifically with regard to the quality of curricula and faculty, as well as to the availability of appropriate institutional resources. In South Africa, no study of these issues has been conducted at a national level. Objective: To explore and describe the quality of nursing doctoral education in South Africa from the perspectives of deans, faculty, doctoral graduates and students. Method: A cross-sectional survey design was used. All deans (N = 15; n = 12), faculty (N = 50; n = 26), doctoral graduates (N = 43; n = 26) and students (N = 106; n = 63) at South African nursing schools that offer a nursing doctoral programme (N = 16; n = 15) were invited to participate. Data were collected by means of structured email-mediated Quality of Nursing Doctoral Education surveys. Results: Overall, the graduate participants scored their programme quality most positively of all the groups and faculty scored it most negatively. All of the groups rated the quality of their doctoral programmes as good, but certain problems related to the quality of resources, students and faculty were identified. Conclusion: These evaluations, by the people directly involved in the programmes, demonstrated significant differences amongst the groups and thus provide valuable baseline data for building strategies to improve the quality of doctoral nursing education in South Africa