Browsing by Author "Bruiners, Selvador"
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- ItemExploring and describing nurse managers views on the utilisation of agency nurses in district hospitals in the Cape Metropole(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Bruiners, Selvador; Van der Merwe, Anitas S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Nursing & Midwifery.ENGLISH SUMMARY : Background: Nursing worldwide is regarded as a scare health human resource and there is literary evidence of an ongoing global nursing shortage. It is essential that nurse managers provide adequate staffing in hospitals. However, this often creates complex dilemmas, because nurse managers rely on agency nurses to amplify the permanent nursing staff due to the shortage. Although agency nursing has become and important strategy to manage the nursing shortage, it brings along associated challenges of quality of care rendered and reported unacceptable conduct. It is for these reasons that the views of Nurse Managers are significant, because it may provide valuable insight and direction to address the issues of quality of care, ethics and nursing standards, including contributing to the national strategy to improve the monitoring of agency nurses. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used for this study. A pilot interview was conducted to test the data-gathering instrument for possible errors, to clarify ambiguous questions, and to ensure a common interpretation of the terms used in the data-gathering instrument. No changes were made to the instrument. Data was collected from 14 participants in four focus groups, a face-to-face interview, and a telephonic interview, using semi-structured interview schedules. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic data analysis, using the Framework Approach, was guided by the research objectives. Atlas ti. computer software and manual data analysis were done to identify common themes. Ten common themes emerged from the data. Results: The literature indicates that NMs in many countries around the world utilise agency nurses and they experience similar advantages with the utilisation of agency nurses, albeit in varying degrees. These findings further revealed similar common practices for sourcing, deployment and supervision of agency nurses in district hospitals. Other findings were that hospitals have adequate structures and mechanisms in place to monitor and manage agency expenditure. There was also evidence that agency nurses provide quality nursing care. Unanticipated findings include examples of unacceptable conduct of some agencies and agency nurses, the display of caring attitudes towards agency nurses, and nurses from other provinces with different standards, who do agency work in the Western Cape Province. The challenges reported by participants indicated the need fro a monitoring system for the agency nursing industry. Conclusion: Agency nurses make a valuable contribution in assisting hospitals to deliver patient-centered quality care. The dilemmas faced with the utilisation of agency nurses will need further investigation and the development and implementation of policy to regulate the industry.