Abortion procurement and post-abortion care services: experiences of nigerian adolescents

Introduction: The prevention of abortion related complications and mortality is dependent on the availability, accessibility and usability of emergency post-abortion care (PAC) throughout the health care system. Unfortunately, Nigerian adolescents are often unable to obtain adequate post-abortion care services due to numerous challenges and barriers. This study attempted to explore experiences with abortion and post abortion care services from the adolescents' perspective which is the first step in enhancing optimal utilization of adolescents' PAC services. Methods: A qualitative exploratory research design was used. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with adolescent patients during hospitalization. The adolescent patients were duly counseled and informed consent obtained prior to the in-depth interview. Semi-structured interview guide was used for data collection and the data were analyzed using content analysis. Results: Findings from the interviews revealed that adolescents found it difficult to discuss issues of pregnancy and abortion with their parents or guardians due to fear, stigmatization or rejection. The adolescents experienced negligence of care, shame and stigma due to failure of health care providers to ensure privacy, as well as delay in treatment due to hospital protocol and non availability of prescribed drugs which significantly affected the PAC care services they received. Conclusion: The adolescents experienced fear, shame, and stigmatization, negligence of care and lack of access to adequate PAC services. These findings highlight the need to review health actions directed towards adolescents with abortion complications and plan interventions aim at improving provision of adolescents' friendly PAC services, in order to meet the reproductive health needs of these adolescents

Experiences of Nurses Caring for Mental Health Care Users in an Acute Admission Unit at a Psychiatric Hospital in the Western Cape Province

Background: Caring for mental health care users (MHCUs) with mental illnesses is a major task that confronts nurses globally. It has been argued that caring for this group of patients is accompanied by unique challenges. Despite the available abundance of data about nursing patients suffering from mental illnesses; little is known about the lived experiences of nurses who care for MHCUs in acute admission units in the Western Cape province.Objectives: This study's aim is to explore and describe the lived experiences of nurses who care for MHCUs in an acute admission unit at a psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape province.Methods: A qualitative; descriptive; phenomenological study was conducted. A purposive sampling procedure was applied which resulted in a sample that comprised eight nurses. Indepth; individual; semi-structured interviews were conducted with these eight participants. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim and the researcher utilised Collaizzi's method to analyse collected data.Results: Both positive and negative experiences were reported. Positive experiences werethe recovery of patients; teamwork; and passion for caring. Negative experiences were the feelings of being unappreciated and unsupported by authorities. Physical assault by MHCUs;shortage of staff; increased workload and burnout was also reported.Conclusions: In-service training about management of aggression needs to be provided; debriefing sessions to deal with burnout needs to be arranged; and research to quantify levelsof burnout should be conducted