A career profile of persons who completed the B.Cur programme at the Medical University of Southern Africa in the decade 1985-1994

Text in EnglishA survey by means of mailed questionnaires was conducted to compile a career profile of persons who completed the B.Cur programme at Medunsa. The sample consisted of all the nurses who had completed the B.Cur. programme over a decade from 1985 to 1994. Forty-one percent of the questionnaires were returned and the findings indicated that the nurse graduates were committed to nursing and were contributing to the nursing services in south Africa. The public service was the largest employer of the graduate nurses. Their commitment to nursing is shown by their long service as well as post-registration qualifications sought in nursing. The B.Cur programme at Medunsa had adequately prepared them to practice nursing. There appears to be a need, however, to review the curriculum in some areas. It was concluded that Medunsa has contributed to the provision of well qualified nurses.Health StudiesM.A. (Nursing Science

Guidelines/strategies for effective student support in caring for aids patients and HIV reactive individuals

AIDS has reached epidemic proportions all over the world. Opsomming Dwarsoor die wereld het AIDS epidemiese afmetings bereik. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text

The experience of nursing students in caring for aids patients

In South Africa the cumulative total of people suffering from AIDS between 1982 and 1991 was 969. Opsomming In Suid-Afrika het 969 persone reeds tussen 1982 en 1991 aan VIGS gely (Epidemilogiese aantekeninge vol. 18, (11), November 1991). *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text

Attitudes to and knowledge about pain and pain management, of nurses working with children with cancer: A comparative study between UK, South Africa and Sweden

Pain is among the most common effects of cancer and its treatment. Children and young people with cancer often consider pain from procedures and treatment to be the worst aspect of their illness. This study aimed to i) identify and describe knowledge and attitudes to pain and pain management amongst nurses working with children with cancer and ii) compare the perspectives on pain and pain management of nurses from UK, South Africa and Sweden. 106 nurses working with children with cancer in UK, South Africa and Sweden completed Salanterä's (1999) questionnaire on nurses' attitudes to pain in children. Nurses had good levels of knowledge and positive attitudes to pain management, with Swedish nurses' having higher levels of knowledge and a more positive attitude to pain management than nurses from UK or South Africa. A high level of knowledge was correlated to a more positive attitude to pain management. Knowledge levels need to be improved to ensure more positive attitudes to pain management, especially for nurses in South Africa. Swedish nurses' level of knowledge about non-pharmacological pain management strategies has scope for improvement. British nurses may need to focus more on the sociology and psychology of pain. © 2007 Sage Publications