Incorporation of Nurse Initiated Management of Antiretroviral Treatment course within the undergraduate nursing programme North West province.

Abstract

According to the 90-90-90 strategy, the focus is on 90% of people living with HIV and/or AIDS knowing their HIV status, initiated on antiretroviral treatment and achieving viral suppression. The challenge is that only 74% of people living with HIV and/or AIDS are on antiretroviral treatment, and HIV mortality still occurs. Literature recommends the incorporation of a Nurse Initiated Management of Antiretroviral Treatment (NIMART) course within the undergraduate nursing programme to capacitate new nurses to manage people living with HIV and/or AIDS immediately after completion of their training. However, the NIMART course is still not incorporated, and there is dearth of information on this topic in North West Province (NWP). To explore and describe nurse educators' perceptions regarding the incorporation of NIMART course within the undergraduate nursing programme in NWP. The setting of this research study was nursing education institutions of the NWP. Phenomenography qualitative research design was followed. Twelve nurse educators underwent purposive selection and unstructured individual interviews were conducted. The research co-coder verified the findings. There were ethical considerations and trustworthiness maintained throughout the study. Main themes that emerged in this study depicted benefits and challenges associated with NIMART course incorporation within the undergraduate nursing programme as stated in Table 1. This study concluded that NIMART course incorporation within the undergraduate nursing programme is a good and relevant idea, which requires human and non-human resources. The study contributed new knowledge on how nurse educators perceive the NIMART course incorporation within the undergraduate nursing programme in NWP.