Masters Degrees (Nursing and Midwifery)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Nursing and Midwifery) by Author "Battle, Donna"

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    The lived experiences of registered nurses on structural empowerment and subsequent career advancement at a tertiary hospital in the Cape Metropole
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Battle, Donna; van der Heever, Mariana; van der Merwe, Anita; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Nursing & Midwifery.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: Background: To enhance the professional development of nurses, nurses should be given access to empowerment structures, such as information, opportunity, resources, and support. Access to these empowerment structures facilitates the professional development of nurses and aids in career advancement. Nurse managers have an obligation to foster a work environment that is conducive to the empowerment of nurses. Nurse managers need to use their power, both formal and informal to ensure that employees have the resources they need to develop professionally. Nurses who are positioned higher up in the organizational hierarchy appear to have more access to empowerment structures than their subordinates. It is therefore imperative that nurse managers support their subordinates and provide them access to empowerment structures. Research aim: The aim of the study was to explore the lived experiences of registered nurses on structural empowerment and subsequent career advancement at a tertiary hospital in the Cape Metropole of South Africa. Research objectives: The objectives were: •To explore the lived experiences of registered nurses on structuralempowerment and subsequent career advancement. •To explore the lived experiences of registered nurses on the role of the unitmanager in the empowerment and subsequent career advancement ofregistered nurses. Method: Interpretive phenomenology was employed to gain understanding of the phenomenon under study. The population comprised of registered nurses who were permanently employed in the medical and surgical wards at a central hospital in the Cape Metropole in the Western Cape. The final sample comprised of eleven participants which included four junior registered nurses, three senior registered nurses, two operational managers and one deputy nurse manager. Purposive sampling was employed to select the range of participants. Ethical approval was obtained from Health Research Ethics Committee of Stellenbosch University and institutional permission from the institution under study. Written informed consent was obtained from participants to participate in the study. Data collection was conducted through individual interviews using a semi-structured interview guide and the technique of reflection described by Carl Rogers. Data analysis was conducted according to the six stages described by Ajjawi and Higgs (2007:621-626). Trustworthiness was enhanced by applying the principles of dependability, credibility, confirmability, and transferability. Results: Four main themes and fifteen sub-themes emerged from the data. The results indicated that although nurses understand the concept of empowerment, not all nurses are empowered. The shortage of nurses significantly impairs nursing empowerment.