Factors that motivate nurses to provide quality patient care in a rural hospital in Vhembe district, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Health services in rural areas are known to be under-resourced in several ways and working conditions are often described as unfavourable. Nurses working under such conditions are likely to be demotivated; however, it seems that not all nurses feel demotivated because of the number of nurses who remain and serve in those areas. This article describes factors that motivate nurses to render quality patient care in a rural hospital in Vhembe district of Limpopo Province in South Africa. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research design guided by an Appreciative Inquiry approach was used. Individual semi-structured interviews with 20 participants were conducted and analysis was conducted according to Tesch’s open-coding technique. The results indicated both intrinsic and extrinsic factors as motivators, which relate to the events in participants’ personal and social life as well as those in the work environment. Passion for the job was identified as the key driver from the intrinsic space while open communication from the employer was raised by the majority of participants as an external driver. This study revealed that although nurses in a rural hospital have challenges that can negatively impact on their motivational levels, their internal drive to care overcomes any negative factors.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Perceived motivating factors towards a positive working environment in rural hospitals at Vhembe District in the Limpopo Province

One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to improve maternal health with the target of reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990–2015. The rendering of quality patient care requires the whole healthcare system to be functional with well-trained, motivated staff, adequate services, equipment and skilled competent leadership. However, work environment in rural hospitals is poorly resourced, thus leading to many nurses becoming de-motivated. This paper describes the factors that the nurses would like to see in their working environment which could improve quality patient care in rural hospitals. An appreciative inquiry qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research design was used. Data were collected through focus group interviews whereby thirty six participants were interviewed. The researcher used the open coding technique to analyse data. The findings revealed that nurses are motivated by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors in their working environment.http://www.krepublishers.com02-Journals/JHE/JHE-00-0-000-000-1990-Web/JHE-00-0-000-000-1990-1-Cover.htmam2016Nursing Scienc

Factors that motivate nurses to provide quality patient care in a rural hospital in Vhembe district, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Health services in rural areas are known to be under-resourced in several ways and working conditions are often described as unfavourable. Nurses working under such conditions are likely to be demotivated; however, it seems that not all nurses feel demotivated because of the number of nurses who remain and serve in those areas. This article describes factors that motivate nurses to render quality patient care in a rural hospital in Vhembe district of Limpopo Province in South Africa. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research design guided by an Appreciative Inquiry approach was used. Individual semi-structured interviews with 20 participants were conducted and analysis was conducted according to Tesch’s open-coding technique. The results indicated both intrinsic and extrinsic factors as motivators, which relate to the events in participants’ personal and social life as well as those in the work environment. Passion for the job was identified as the key driver from the intrinsic space while open communication from the employer was raised by the majority of participants as an external driver. This study revealed that although nurses in a rural hospital have challenges that can negatively impact on their motivational levels, their internal drive to care overcomes any negative factors.http://www.ajol.info/journal_index.php?jid=153&ab=ajpherd2016-10-31hb201