Four-year diploma male students’ experiences in a profession traditionally perceived as a female domain at a selected public college of nursing in Limpopo, South Africa

Background: Over the last 20 years, more men have been choosing to pursue a career in nursing. Despite this, men remain a minority in the nursing workforce around the world, including South Africa. Even though there is an increase in the number of male students entering the profession, male students remain a minority. Comparatively speaking, there is no balance between the number of female and male students taken in each intake. This is even reflected in the South African Nursing Council statistics. Nursing is traditionally perceived as a distinctly feminine career and the use of the terms ‘angel in a white dress, sister or nurse’ perpetuates this stereotype. This perception may deter some men from choosing a career in nursing and presents challenges for others who are currently in the profession. Objectives: To explore and describe 4-year diploma male students’ experiences in a profession traditionally perceived as a female domain. Method: This qualitative study used an explorative and descriptive design. The population comprised African male students in their third and fourth years of study who were registered for the 4-year diploma course at a selected public college of nursing in Limpopo, South Africa. Participants were purposively sampled. Five focus group discussions were conducted, and each comprised six to eight participants. The data were analysed using the Tesch’s open code method. Results: Two themes emerged during data analysis: discrimination in the clinical setting and lack of role models and mentors. Conclusion: Unless these challenging experiences are attended to, discrimination on the basis of gender in the clinical settings and lack of mentors may deter some men from choosing and remaining in the nursing profession. The selected public college of nursing and the nursing services need to work towards creating a welcoming environment to all students regardless of gender because some participants indicated that the clinical environment is sometimes not welcoming to them as men

Growth Performance and Behaviour in Grouped Pigs Fed Fibrous Diet

The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of feeding fibrous diets on growth performance and occurrence of aggressive behaviours in growing pigs. Sixty healthy castrated pigs (initial body weight: 46.7±4.35 kg) were used. A basal diet was diluted with maize cobs to two levels (0 and 160 g/kg dry matter). Behavioural activities were observed using video cameras for three weeks, 8 h/d starting at 0800 h. Pigs subjected to control diet gained more weight compared to pigs receiving fibrous diet in week 1 (0.47 vs 0.15 kg, respectively) and 2 (1.37 vs 1.04, respectively) (p<0.05). Average daily gain was not affected by treatment diet in the third week. Pigs on high fibrous spent more time eating, lying down, standing, walking and fighting (p<0.05) compared to pigs on control diet. Time spent eating increased as the weeks progressed whilst time spent lying down decreased. Time of day had an effect on time spent on different behavioural activities exhibited by all pigs on different treatment diet (p<0.05). Inactivity was greatest in 5th (1200 to 1300 h) hour of the day for all the pigs on different dietary treatments. Skin lesions appeared the most on neck and shoulder region followed by chest, stomach and hind leg region, and finally head region (p<0.05). Pigs on high fibre diet had more skin lesions in all body regions compared to pigs on control diet (p<0.05). It can be concluded that the high fibrous diet with maize cobs did not affect growth performance and also did not reduce aggressive behaviours. Aggressive behaviours emanated out of frustration when queuing on the feeder. The findings of this study suggest that maize cobs can be included at a level of 160 g/kg in diets of pigs. However, to reduce the level of aggression more feeding space should be provided

Antibiotic resistance profiles and relatedness of enteric bacterial pathogens isolated from HIV/AIDS patients with and without diarrhoea and their household drinking water in rural communities in Limpopo Province South Africa

Antibiotic resistance profiles and the correlation of enteric bacterial pathogens from HIV positive individuals with and without diarrhoea and their household drinking water were determined using the KirbyBauer disk diffusion and polymerase chain reaction methods respectively. The sef gene of Salmonella enteritidis was amplified with the primer pair sefA-1 and sefA-2. The fliC gene of Salmonella typhimurium was amplified with the primer pair flicA-1 and flicA-2. Heat-labile toxin (LT) primers (Lta and LTb) were used to amplify Escherichia coli isolates and VirA1 and VirA2 for the Vir A gene of Shigella dysenteriae. Results of antibiotic resistance profiles of enteric bacterial pathogens isolated from stool samples of HIV positive and negative individuals with and without diarrhea and their household drinking water showed very similar drug resistance patterns. Over 90% of all the organisms isolated from the various study cohorts showed resistance to penicillin, cloxacillin and amoxicillin. Conversely, almost all the organisms were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, meropenem and imipenem. About 50% of E. coli isolated from the various study cohorts showed multiple antibiotic resistance to penicillin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, doxycycline and cotri-moxazole ( PR, AR, APR, ER, TR, DXTR, and TSR ) whereas less than 10% resistance was consistently reported for ofloxacin, gentamycin, meropenem cefotaxime, cefuroxime and imipenem ( OFXS, GMS, MEMS, CTXS, CXMS and IMIS ). The majority of Salmonella and Shigella isolates from all the groups were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, amikacin, meropenem, imipenem, nalidixic acid, kanamycin, piperacillin-tazo bactam, cefuroxime, doxycyclin, cefepime and ceftazidime (CIPS, GMS, AKS, MEMS, IMIS, NAS, KNS, DXTS, CXMS, CPMS, CAZS and PTZS). For Campylobacter, over 30% of the isolates were resistant to erythromycin, ampicillin, tetracycline,cotrimoxazole and ceftazidime (ER, APR TSR and CAZR) whereas over 85% were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, gentamycin, amikacin, mero-penem, and nalidixic acid (CIPS, OFXS, GMS, AKS,MEMS and NAS). In addition to penicillin, amoxicillin, ampicillin and erythromycin, Aeromonas and Plesiomonas spp were more resistant to chloramphenicol, but were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, gentamycin, amikacin, meropenem, imipenem and nalidixic acid (CIPS, GMS, AKS, MEMS, IMIS and NAS). Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) experiments using targeted species genes of S. enteritidis, S. typhimurium, E. coli, Sh. dysenteriae showed that isolates from stool samples of HIV positive and HIV negative individuals with and without diarrhoea were also present in the household drinking water of the same study cohorts, suggesting that drinking water may have been the sources of the organisms in stool sample. Furthermore, by showing that the primers were able to amplify the genes in both clinical and environmental isolates, the link between the virulence of the pathogens was established

Role of community health workers in type 2 diabetes mellitus self-management: A scoping review

Background: Globally the number of people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has risen significantly over the last few decades. Aligned to this is a growing use of community health workers (CHWs) to deliver T2DM self-management support with good clinical outcomes especially in High Income Countries (HIC). Evidence and lessons from these interventions can be useful for Low- and Middle-Income countries (LMICs) such as South Africa that are experiencing a marked increase in T2DM prevalence. Objectives: This study aimed to examine how CHW have been utilized to support T2DM self-management globally, their preparation for and supervision to perform their functions. Method: The review was guided by a stepwise approach outlined in the framework for scoping reviews developed by Arksey and O’Malley. Peer reviewed scientific and grey literature was searched using a string of keywords, selecting English full-text articles published between 2000 and 2015. Articles were selected using inclusion criteria, charted and content analyzed. Results: 1008 studies were identified of which 54 full text articles were selected. Most (53) of the selected studies were in HIC and targeted mostly minority populations in low resource settings. CHWs were mostly deployed to provide education, support, and advocacy. Structured curriculum based education was the most frequently reported service provided by CHWs to support T2DM self-management. Support services included informational, emotional, appraisal and instrumental support. Models of CHW care included facility linked nurse-led CHW coordination, facility-linked CHW led coordination and standalone CHW interventions without facility interaction. Conclusion: CHWs play several roles in T2DM self-management, including structured education, ongoing support and health system advocacy. Preparing and coordinating CHWs for these roles is crucial and needs further research and strengthening

Technical Efficiency of African Indigenous Vegetable Production in Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa

African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) have long been known in South African rural communities as essential food that is being consumed with starchy staples, and their consumption has increased over the past few decades. There is now a growing interest and awareness of AIVs due to their nutritional benefits and outstanding potential to generate farm incomes. However, several factors are militating against their production along the supply chains of value addition. This study analysed the technical efficiency of AIVs production in Vhembe district of Limpopo province. The data were collected from 114 AIVs farmers through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data analysis was carried out using Stochastic Frontier model via the Cobb-Douglas production function. The results revealed that the average age and years of farming experiences of the farmers were 59.6 and 30.9 years respectively. About 84% of the farmers lacked access to formal credit, while 92% had access to extension services. Elasticity values of land area cultivated, fertiliser, seeds, labour and tractor days in relation to AIV production were 0.4441, 0.1749, 0.1311, 0.2663 and 0.2360 respectively. Furthermore, the results revealed that average technical efficiency in the production of indigenous vegetables was 0.79%. The variables that significantly influenced technical inefficiency were years of schooling, extension services, gender and access to the irrigation system. In conclusion, production of AIV exhibits decreasing returns to scale. However, promotion of AIV production and efficiency requires consideration of gender issues in accessing resources, educational attainments of farmers, access to irrigation services and proper reorientation of the components of agricultural extension services delivery in order to benefit AIV farmers

The discourse on the intersectionality of religion and HIV and AIDS with specific reference to Thulamela municipality, Limpopo province

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) since its genesis has continued to affect a large number of the population in the African region and has caused exponential deaths. At the same time, new infections have been reported in South Africa. However, religion as a vehicle of change through the institution of the church has been acting on the contrary, since it discourages the use of condoms (one of the most effective ways to prevent HIV) and moralising the pelvic area in its characterisation against the commandment of God. Such a perspective has largely been drawn from the Christian doctrine(s). We argue that in its condemnation and moralisation of the virus, the church, through its pastors, engaged in biblical discourse (preaching). Contribution: The article applies a qualitative phenomenological approach and system theory as theoretical lenses. Furthermore, the article locates the study within Christian communities located in Thulamela Municipality, Limpopo province. It proposes Christian practices that can be useful in combating the virus.College of Human Science

The manual tests that can elicit the strongest responses from the palmaris longus muscle

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