Perceptions of Nursing Students Regarding Responsible Use of Social Media in the Eastern Cape

Background: Social media have become a popular communication system that has transformed communication from the traditional to the Web-based model. Because social media use has no limitations to place and time; it is now used extensively at clinical facilities. Social media useis becoming a popular activity amongst students at Nursing Education Institutions (NEI) in South Africa. However; lack of accountability and unethical use of social media by nursing students in South Africa has been reported. Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore and describe the perceptions of nursing students regarding responsible use of social media.Methods: A qualitative; descriptive; explorative and contextual research design was used to explore and describe the perceptions of nursing students regarding the responsible use of social media. Twelve nursing students registered for the undergraduate nursing degree were purposely selected and interviewed individually using a semi-structured interview method. Results: The results of this research study demonstrate that nursing students use social media irresponsibly. Nursing students experience blurred boundaries between personal and professional lines and lack accountability when using social media.Conclusion: The extensive use of social media in the clinical environment; by healthcare students; requires a joint effort by Nursing Education Institutions and healthcare facilities to ensure that social media are used in an ethically acceptable manner. The implementation of the recommendations of this research study could positively influence legally and ethically acceptable use of social media at healthcare facilities

The Experiences of AIDS Orphans Living in a Township

An overwhelming challenge to health-care professionals today; is the rendering of care services to AIDS orphans. This article is based on a study that explored and described the lived experiences of AIDS orphans in a township in order to understand their 'life world' as AIDS orphans. A further purpose was to provide information to primary health-care nurses (PHCNs); related professionals and partners involved in the care of these children; so that they could plan a care response to meet the orphans' unique needs. A qualitative research design that used an explorative; descriptive; contextual and phenomenological strategy of inquiry was employed. Data were collected by means of in-depth interviews from a purposively selected sample; and were analysed according to the steps of qualitative data analysis proposed by Tesch (Creswell 1994). Guba's model was used to ensure the trustworthiness of the qualitative data. Two main themes and their sub-themes were identified. The first theme was that children experience devastating changes in their life circumstances when they become AIDS orphans. The second theme highlighted how the participants rediscovered hope to persevere. Recommendations directed at nursing practice; education and research; were made based upon the findings