Background: Patients’ records provide a trace of care processes that have occurred and are further used as communication amongst nurses for continued management of patients. Nurses have the responsibility to ensure that records are accurate and complete in order to effectively manage their patients. In hospitals, nurses have to record a wide range of information in the patient’s records and this leads to increased workload on the part of nurses that compromises accurate record-keeping.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the challenges experienced by nurses with regard to record-keeping at selected public hospitals in the Vhembe district, Limpopo Province, South Africa.Method: A qualitative, explorative and descriptive research design was used. Nurses working in selected public hospitals were purposively selected and semi-structured interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached. Data were analysed using the Tesch’s open-coding method.Results: Nurses working in public hospitals experience record-keeping as a challenging activity owing to a variety of challenges which include lack of time to complete the records, increased patients’ admission and shortage of recording material.Conclusion: Record-keeping is not done properly which is problematic, and it is recommended that there should be continuous training, monitoring and evaluation of nurses on record-keeping issues, supply of adequate recording materials and proper time management amongst nurses to improve record-keeping challenges. The need for comprehensive record-keeping remains fundamental in public hospitals in order to improve patient care.

Background: The number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is rapidly increasing globally and requires a supportive educational system to meet the needs of these children.Aim: The study assessed challenges faced by teachers of children with ASD in the public special schools of the Limpopo province, South Africa.Setting: The study was conducted in seven public special schools in the Limpopo province, South Africa.Methods: Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 teachers regarding the challenges they face in educating children with ASD. Tesch’s inductive, descriptive open coding technique enabled the researcher to analyse and report, subthemes that emerged from this qualitative explorative and descriptive data. Measures to ensure trustworthiness and ethical considerations were carried out throughout the study.Results: Analysis of the interviews revealed that the structure and systems of special schools do not support the educational needs of children with ASD. The strategic plans and policy framework on inclusive education are not being executed adequately. Learning for ASD children is not supported because of substandard infrastructure, curricula, lack of teaching material, health practitioners, unbalanced teacher–learner ratio, inadequate staff skills, school culture, shared beliefs and lack of management support.Conclusion: The study revealed challenges faced by special education teachers indicating the influence on the provision of high-quality education to children with ASD. The Department of Basic Education at the national level should monitor all special schools regularly, provide the necessary support and ensure that the complex needs of children with ASD are met.Contribution: The study contributes to understanding of the challenges faced by teachers of children with ASD in providing high quality of education and affirm sound basis of advance information to monitor and evaluate the education of children with ASD in special public schools, which is within the scope of the journal.

Background: The South African health care system has been making endless efforts to ensure effective and efficient health care service delivery irrespective of the various challenges experienced by Primary Health Care nurses that set some drawbacks. The introduction of a 24-hour service at designated clinics was recommended as an approach that could improve service delivery at Primary health settings however, the approach is faced with challenges from Primary Health Care nurses rendering such services. Objective: The objective was To explore and describe the challenges faced by Primary Health Care nurses when rendering 24-hours service at designated clinics in Musina local area. Methods: A qualitative, explorative-descriptive research methodology approach was used to collect data. The study used a non-probability purposive sampling method to select 10 Primary Health Care nurses to participate in the study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysis was done using Tesch’s open coding method to develop themes and sub-themes. Measures to ensure the trustworthiness OF the study were all followed throughout the study. Results: The study results indicated that there is a shortage of resources, inadequate compliance to occupational health and safety measures which affect the rendering of 24-hour services at clinics Conclusion: The study recommends the provision of adequate resources both human and material, provision of adequate security, and improvement in the clinic infrastructure to enable Primary Health Care nurses to work effectively. The study is of importance to the nursing profession as the findings and recommendations will help primary health care nurses in improving service delivery at clinics.

Background: The nursing process is a systemic approach to patient care and enables nurses in health care institutions to render comprehensive care aimed at achieving quality. During the implementation of the nursing process, nurses are faced with multiple traits that hinder effective implementation. The nursing process has been widely recommended as an approach that guides nurses towards quality nursing care, thus, non-adherence is associated with substandard patient care. Objective: The objective was to explore and describe the practices of nurses when implementing the nursing process at a selected public hospital in Limpopo province, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative, explorative-descriptive approach research method was used to collect data. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to initially select 5 professional nurses to participate in the study and later on, more data was collected from 3 unit managers. Data was collected using a semi-structured interview until data saturation, and data was analyzed using the Tesch’s open coding method of data analysis, where themes and sub-themes were developed. Measures to ensure trustworthiness were all adhered to the study. Results: The results explained the practices of nurses when implementing the nursing process and the challenges encountered during the implementation of the nursing process. Conclusion: The study findings indicated a need for continuous in-service training, provision of adequate resources and development of a formal training program.

Background: In-service training of the nursing employees plays an eminent role in developing the empowerment of nurses and the promotion of the overall quality of patient care in hospitals. Nurses with constant attendance of training on the nursing process show improved quality of patient care in most clinical health care settings. Nurses in hospitals in Limpopo province experience challenges regarding in-service training on the nursing process approach during patient care. The current study is imperative to the nursing practice; hence, in-service training remains one of the workplace activities that keep the nurses abreast with the latest development in their profession. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to explore and describe the in-training needs for nurses implementing the nursing process at regional hospitals of Limpopo province, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative explorative, descriptive, phenomenological and contextual research design was applied in the study. A nonprobability purposive sampling method was utilised to select professional nurses at the regional hospitals. Semi structured in-depth interviews using an interview guide was consumed to collect data from eighteen participants, then the data was analysed by means of phenomenological reduction method where themes and sub-themes were established. Results: The study discovered that there was no in-service training for professional nurses on the nursing process and there was a lack of management support to nurses implementing the nursing process. Conclusion: The study recommended the need to develop a training programme to enhance continuous in-service training on the nursing process in hospitals of Limpopo province.

The nursing process is regarded as a systematic approach in which professional nurses use problem-solving to identify, plan and implement nursing interventions to enhance quality patient care. The steps of the nursing process include assessment, nursing diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation. However, nurses’ effective and efficient use of the nursing process steps in public hospitals still poses a challenge due to several factors. The current study is significant to nursing practice as the nursing process remains a standard of nursing practice for hospitals to provide quality patient care. The purpose of the study was to explore professional nurses’ use of the assessment and implementation steps of the nursing process at selected public hospitals in the Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa. A qualitative, phenomenological, descriptive, explorative and contextual research design was used. Non-probability purposive sampling was used to select professional nurses who were using the nursing process in the nursing care units until data saturation was reached with 13 participants. The data was collected using semi-structured one-on-one interviews using an interview guide, and then analysed using Tesch’s open-coding method where themes and sub-themes emerged. The study found that the participants’ initial assessment of patients during admission is an achievable performance, while implementation of the set nursing intervention is still a challenge on different levels. It is recommended that a problem-based learning approach be made a compulsory practical teaching method in order to equip nurses with the knowledge of the nursing process at all nursing education institutions.