Abstract
Professional nurses working in rural primary health-care settings are experiencing burnout due to serious shortages of personnel. This is exacerbated by the brain drain of nurses leaving the country. Rural settings are resource constrained in terms of personnel and equipment. This results in dissatisfaction among nurses due to the unbearable working conditions which result in stress and frustration. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive study was conducted to explore and describe the experiences of nurses working in a rural primary health-care setting in the greater Letaba sub-district in Limpopo Province. Purposive sampling was used to identify the participants. Data was collected in the form of in-depth interviews. The study revealed that nurses working in primary health-care settings were experiencing emotional and physical strain as a result of the shortage of human resources. It was recommended that policies that meet the health-care needs of rural communities be developed, and that strategies to retain professional nurses in primary health-care settings be formulated.
Highlights
Introduction and background of the studyThe goal of the Healthy People 2010 Initiative is to reduce or eliminate health disparities in vulnerable populations, including populations with rural and minority ethnic backgrounds (Averill, 2002:624)
Despite the progress made by African countries in the last decade in terms of developing national systems based on primary health-care principles, the issue of balancing the demand and supply of the health-care workforce in rural areas is still a problem
In settings where professional nurses work cohesively with other health professionals, according to Hegney, McCarthy, Clark and Gorman (2002:130) and Fuszard, Green, Kujala and Talley (1994b:38-9), it has been demonstrated that clients feel a strong ownership of their health
Summary
The goal of the Healthy People 2010 Initiative is to reduce or eliminate health disparities in vulnerable populations, including populations with rural and minority ethnic backgrounds (Averill, 2002:624). The supermarket approach or the integration of services approach contributed to the stress and burnout of rural nurses working in primary health care. In the Greater Letaba sub-district the workload problem still exists, with newlyqualified nurses being appointed to primary health-care facilities which should be run by experienced professional nurses These nurses work independently, fulfilling all day-to-day supervisory and managerial duties, while they are not yet skilled or knowledgeable in this sphere of service. The purpose of the study on which this article is based was to explore and describe the experiences of nurses working in rural primary health care settings. The researcher ensured that the interviews remained consistent by asking one broad central research question: What are the experiences o f nurses working in rural prim ary health-care settings?. The supervisors of the study listened to the tapes to verify the conclusions, interpretations and recommendations
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