Browsing by Author "Dube, Kopano"

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    South African healthcare workers and COVID-19 : a shared responsibility to protect a precious and limited resource
    (Health & Medical Publishing Group, 2020) Dramowski, Angela; Zunza, Moleen; Dube, Kopano; Parker, Mohammed; Slogrove, Amy L.
    Healthcare workers (HCWs) in African countries face high risks of occupational exposure to many pathogens, including tuberculosis, measles, HIV and Ebola.[1,2] The novel coronavirus SARSCoV- 2 poses an arguably greater threat to African HCWs than any other infectious agent to date. Data from countries with established epidemics show that HCWs experience high rates of COVID-19 infection, morbidity and mortality. In the USA, 19% of COVID-19 cases whose occupational status was known were HCWs (9 282/49 000),[3] and >90 000 HCW COVID-19 infections were documented in 30 countries, with 260 deaths in nurses, by early May 2020.[4] In South Africa (SA), on 6 May, Minister Zweli Mkhize reported that 511 HCWs had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 (7% of the national total), with nurses accounting for 53% of total HCW cases.[5] The unprecedented risk posed to HCWs by COVID-19 is clearly acknowledged by all levels of the SA government. Nationally there have been commitments, both financially and administratively, to ensure procurement and local production of personal protective equipment (PPE) and transparent reporting of HCW COVID-19 infections. To varying degrees, administrative and engineering interventions to prevent COVID-19 infections and outbreaks have been implemented in SA healthcare facilities (Table 1). Despite the early phase of the pandemic and general availability of PPE, SA is already facing high rates of HCW COVID-19 infections and exposure events. This is a concerning development reflecting both widespread community transmission (with HCW infections) and the need to strengthen ‘universal’ prevention measures in healthcare facilities, e.g. physical distancing, mask-wearing, hand hygiene, and increased cleaning/ disinfection of surfaces and equipment.
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    Training for transformation : opportunities and challenges for health workforce sustainability in developing a remote clinical training platform
    (Frontiers, 2021-04) Muller, Jana; Reardon, Cameron; Hanekom, Susan; Bester, Juanita; Coetzee, Francois; Dube, Kopano; Du Plessis, Elmarize; Couper, Ian
    Background: In 2018, Stellenbosch University’s Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health led a faculty initiative to expand undergraduate health professions training to a new site, 9 hours drive from the health sciences campus in the sparsely populated Northern Cape Province of South Africa in the town of Upington. This is part of a faculty strategy to extend undergraduate health sciences training into an under-resourced part of the country, where there is no medical school. During 2019, the first year of implementation, four final year medical students undertook a longitudinal integrated clerkship at this site, while final year students from other programmes undertook short 5-week rotations, with plans for extending rotations and including more disciplines in 2020. The aim of this study was to understand stakeholder perceptions regarding the development of Upington as a rural clinical training site and how this influenced existing services, workforce sustainability and health professions education. Methods: An iterative thematic analysis of qualitative data collected from 55 participants between January and November 2019 was conducted as part of the case study. A constructivist approach to data collection was utilized to explore participants’ perceptions, experiences and understanding of the new training site. Triangulation of data collection and reflexive thematic analysis contributed to the trustworthiness of the data and credibility of the findings. Findings: The perceptions of three key groups of stakeholders are reported: (1) Dr. Harry Surtie Hospital and Academic Programme Managers; (2) Supervising and non-supervising clinical staff and (3) Students from three undergraduate programs of the Faculty. Five themes emerged regarding the development of the site. The themes include the process of development; the influence on the health service; workforce sustainability; a change in perspective and equipping a future workforce. Discussion: This case study provides data to support the value of establishing a rural clinical training platform in a resource constrained environment. The influence of the expansion initiative on the current workforce speaks to the potential for improved capacity and competence in patient management with an impact on encouraging a rural oriented workforce. Using this case study to explore how the establishment of a new rural clinical training site is perceived to influence rural workforce sustainability and pathways, may have relevance to other institutions in similar settings. The degree of sustainability of the clinical training initiative is explored.