Background: In South Africa, children with cerebral palsy are nested within a family setting by immediate relatives, particularly in the rural areas. These immediate relatives are regarded as caregivers and are not trained with regard to providing care to children with special needs. Therefore, they have to find ways to adapt to their new roles of caregiving using the available resources. The aim of this paper is to present the challenges encountered by caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in rural areas of South Africa. Methods: This qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual study included 10 caregivers for children with cerebral palsy who were purposively recruited from the three respective hospitals in Vhembe District within Limpopo Province. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews and analysed using a thematic approach. Ethical considerations and measures to ensure trustworthiness were upheld throughout the study. Results: Four themes emerged from the study, namely economic problems facing caregivers; health problems encountered by caregivers; maltreatment of caregivers by community members, as well as access to transport for caregivers and children. Conclusion: Participants narrated that caring for a child with cerebral palsy is not an easy task for the caregiver, particularly in the rural areas of South Africa. They encounter various challenges as they strive to provide quality care to the children that they are caring for. An investigation is recommended concerning the kind of model which should be developed to support caregivers in caring for children with cerebral palsy in the rural areas.

Psychiatric clinical placement is as essential as other placements in any discipline in nursing education as it allows student nurses to correlate theory to practice. Several research studies have been conducted on nurses’ experiences of the clinical supervision of students, but absenteeism is still a challenge globally. In this study, professional nurses’ experiences of student nurses’ absenteeism from psychiatric clinical placements in Limpopo Province, South Africa, were examined. Three designated specialty mental institutions in Limpopo Province were the sites of the study. Explorative, descriptive, and contextual designs were used in a qualitative approach. A qualitative approach was used because the study sought professional nurses to narrate their experiences through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, which could only be achieved through a qualitative approach. A total of eleven professional nurses, four from two specialized psychiatric hospitals and three from one specialized psychiatric hospital, were purposively sampled and interviewed. These nurses participated in in-depth interviews that were used to gather data, which were then thematically analyzed. One theme and three sub-themes on professional nurses’ experiences of the absenteeism of student nurses during psychiatric clinical placement were revealed. The theme was student factors leading to absenteeism, while the sub-themes were fear of mental health care users, negative attitudes towards psychiatric nursing science, and students’ lifestyles. Based on the findings, student nurses’ absenteeism can be caused by many factors. A qualitative study should be conducted to seek strategies to mitigate the absenteeism of student nurses during clinical placement in the psychiatric hospitals of Limpopo Province.

(1) Background: Clinical placements in psychiatric nursing science (PNS) are as important as other placements in any discipline in nursing education as they allow students to correlate theory to practice. Nursing students’ absenteeism has become a grave concern in psychiatric institutions in South Africa. This study investigated the clinical factors leading to student nurses’ absenteeism in the Limpopo College of Nursing during the psychiatric nursing science clinical placement. (2) Methods: A quantitative approach using a descriptive design was followed, where 206 students were purposively sampled. The study was conducted at the Limpopo College of Nursing situated in Limpopo Province, with five campuses offering a four-year nursing program. College campuses were used to access students since this was an easy way of accessing them. Data were collected through questionnaires of structured questions and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Ethical considerations were adhered to throughout. (3) Results: The correlation between clinical factors and absenteeism was determined. The main reported factors for absenteeism were student nurses being treated as a workforce in the clinical areas; shortage of staff in the clinical areas; inadequate supervision of student nurses by professional nurses; and being inconsiderate of student nurses requests for days off in the clinical area. (4) Conclusions: The findings revealed that student nurses’ absenteeism is caused by different factors. The Department of Health should find a way of not overworking students due to a shortage of staff in the wards but consider them for experiential learning. A further qualitative study should be conducted to develop strategies to mitigate student nurses’ absenteeism in psychiatric clinical placement.