Perceptions of newly-qualified nurses performing compulsory community service in KwaZulu-Natal.

Petra Brysiewicz,Busisiwe Bhengu,Selverani Govender

doi:10.4102/curationis.v38i1.1474

Petra Brysiewicz, Busisiwe Bhengu + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v38i1.1474

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Abstract

BackgroundCompulsory community service (CCS) for nurses commenced in South Africa in January 2008 after it was legislated in the new Nursing Act (Act No. 33 of 2005). Nurses completing their registered nurse programme are registered as community nurse practitioners (CNPs) during the CCS period and make up the largest number of health professionals serving CCS. Whilst health institutions have welcomed CNPs as additional resources for the shortage of nursing staff, no structured guidelines have been provided at a regional level as to how these nurses should be utilised or managed during the CCS year. To date, no large-scale study has been conducted on nurses carrying out CCS in order to generalise the findings.ObjectivesTo establish the perceptions of newly-qualified nurses carrying out CCS in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.MethodA quantitative survey design was used to obtain data from a randomly selected sample of the 2012 cohort of nurses carrying out CCS in KwaZulu-Natal.ResultsCNPs have a positive attitude toward CCS and perceive themselves as being well prepared for the year of community service in terms of knowledge, skills and ability to administer nursing care. They identified positive benefits of the year of community service. The concerns raised were limited orientation and support; and a few CNPs experienced problems of acceptance by the nurses with whom they work.ConclusionIt is recommended that all health institutions who receive CNPs develop structured orientation and support for these nurses in order to promote their development, thereby enhancing their benefit to the communities they serve.

Highlights

One of the South African government’s responses to the challenge of limited human resources in the health sector was the introduction of compulsory community service (CCS) for all health professionals registering their qualifications for the first time with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) in 1997 (Republic of South Africa 1997)
Eighty-eight Community Nurse Practitioner’ (CNP) commented in the open-ended question on CCS for nurses
The greater proportion of CNPs were allocated to their first choice of health institution, suggesting that this aspect of the CCS policy was agreeable to the majority of the participants and is similar to results in Hatcher et al.’s (2014) study

Summary

Introduction

One of the South African government’s responses to the challenge of limited human resources in the health sector was the introduction of compulsory community service (CCS) for all health professionals registering their qualifications for the first time with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) in 1997 (Republic of South Africa 1997). According to Hatcher et al (2014:1–2), the Department of Health’s (DOH) main objective was to promote ‘equitable distribution’ of health services to the people of South Africa and for health professionals to develop further practical skills, knowledge, critical thinking and professional behaviour during the period of CCS. The former Minister of Health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, motivated for newly-qualified nurses to be included in CCS in January 2005 (Ndaki 2004); and legislation followed in the form of the Nursing Act, No 33 of 2005 (Republic of South Africa 2006). No large-scale study has been conducted on nurses carrying out CCS in order to generalise the findings

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