Work satisfaction of professional nurses in South Africa: a comparative analysis of the public and private sectors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Work satisfaction of nurses is important, as there is sufficient empirical evidence to show that it tends to affect individual, organizational and greater health and social outcomes. Although there have been several studies of job satisfaction among nurses in South Africa, these are limited because they relate to studies of individual organizations or regions, use small samples or are dated. This paper presents a national study that compares and contrasts satisfaction levels of nurses in both public and private sectors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional survey of professional nurses conducted throughout South Africa using a pretested and self-administered questionnaire. Univariate and bivariate statistical models were used to evaluate levels of satisfaction with various facets of work and to elicit the differences in satisfaction levels between different groups of nurses. A total of 569 professional nurses participated in the study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Private-sector nurses were generally satisfied, while public-sector nurses were generally dissatisfied. Public-sector nurses were most dissatisfied with their pay, the workload and the resources available to them. They were satisfied only with the social context of the work. Private-sector nurses were dissatisfied only with their pay and career development opportunities. Professional nurses in the more rural provinces, those intending to change sectors and those more likely not to be in their current positions within the next five years were also more likely to be dissatisfied with all facets of their work.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study highlighted the overall dissatisfaction among South African nurses and confirmed the disparity between the levels of job satisfaction between the public and private sectors. Health managers should address those factors that affect job satisfaction, and therefore retention, of nurses in South Africa. Improving the work environment so that it provides a context congruent with the aspirations and values systems of nurses is more likely to increase the satisfaction of nurses and consequently have a positive effect on individual, organizational and health outcomes.</p

Origin of Secretin Receptor Precedes the Advent of Tetrapoda: Evidence on the Separated Origins of Secretin and Orexin

At present, secretin and its receptor have only been identified in mammals, and the origin of this ligand-receptor pair in early vertebrates is unclear. In addition, the elusive similarities of secretin and orexin in terms of both structures and functions suggest a common ancestral origin early in the vertebrate lineage. In this article, with the cloning and functional characterization of secretin receptors from lungfish and X. laevis as well as frog (X. laevis and Rana rugulosa) secretins, we provide evidence that the secretin ligand-receptor pair has already diverged and become highly specific by the emergence of tetrapods. The secretin receptor-like sequence cloned from lungfish indicates that the secretin receptor was descended from a VPAC-like receptor prior the advent of sarcopterygians. To clarify the controversial relationship of secretin and orexin, orexin type-2 receptor was cloned from X. laevis. We demonstrated that, in frog, secretin and orexin could activate their mutual receptors, indicating their coordinated complementary role in mediating physiological processes in non-mammalian vertebrates. However, among the peptides in the secretin/glucagon superfamily, secretin was found to be the only peptide that could activate the orexin receptor. We therefore hypothesize that secretin and orexin are of different ancestral origins early in the vertebrate lineage

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

Consumption, housing rents and housing price: A test of a real estate pricing model using Hong Kong data

The present study investigates whether Hong Kong's volatile real estate market is consistent with a non-linear consumption-based-asset-pricing model. It finds that the asset-pricing model is not rejected for some types of properties. However, the differentials between the returns to residential properties and risk-free rate are too large to be explained by the model.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Specific inhibition of protein disulphide reductase activity of a 60kda rat liver protein by adenine nucleotides

A 60 kda protein which catalysed the reduction of DTN'B, 5.5'-dithio-bis(2 nitrobenzoic acid), in an NADPH-dependent manner was purified to single-band homogeneity from rat liver. Amino-terminal sequencing of the first twentyfive amino acids of the protein showed an overall sequence homology of over eighty percent with thioredoxin reductase purified from human placenta. In the presence of thioredoxin obtained either from plant or mammalian origin, the purified protein catalysed the reduction of the interchain disulphides of mouse immunoglobulin G. This protein disulphide reductase activity of the protein was inhibited by millimolar levels of adenosine tri- and di-phosphate in a metallic cation-independent manner. Adenosine monophosphate did not inhibit the reaction. Other nucleotides such as Uridine tri-, di- and monophosphates, Guanosine tri -, di- and monophosphates, Cytosine tri- and monophosphates also did not have any inhibitory effects. None of the above nucleotides affect the enzyme activity of the protein when DTNB was used as the substrate, indicating that both ATP or ADP did not cause an inactivation of catalytic site. Our results suggest that the purified 60kda protien is thioredoxin reductase. This is the first demonstration that both ATP and ADP, which occur in cells at millimolar quantities, can inhibit the protein disulphide reductase activity of the thioredoxin reductase/thioredoxin couple. This may represent a potential regulatory mechanism for the reduction of intracellular protein disulphides.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Two dimensional liquid chromatography (2D-LC) MS/MS for polar and non-polar pesticides analysis

Poster presentatio

Association between anti-thymocyte globulin administration and cytomegalic virus infection and/or CMV disease in cadaveric renal allograft recipients

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Methodological study on the evaluation of face mask use scale among public adult : cross-language and psychometric testing

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