A Meta-Methods Analysis of Academics' Challenges Affecting Research Productivity During COVID-19: Insights from a South African University

The purpose of this research study was to examine challenges experienced by academics at Stellenbosch University that hinder their research productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic, involving 248 academics who completed an online questionnaire. A qualitative analysis of open-ended responses revealed five themes that characterized the extent that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted these academics ' research productivity: Online Teaching, Increase in Research Productivity, No Difference to Research Productivity, Reduced Research Productivity, and No Research Productivity. A mixed methods analysis revealed that only 25% of academics were not adversely affected by online teaching in terms of research productivity. Two thirds of the academics experienced either a reduction in productivity or reported no research productivity at all. Compared to academics who reported an increase in productivity, academics who reported undertaking no research productivity at all tended to be women, not to hold a professor position, not to have a doctorate degree, to have less experience as academics, to have access at home to a tablet, but not to have access at home to cellphone data.

Primary health care nurses' knowledge, self-efficacy and performance of diabetes self-management support.

BACKGROUND: Patients living with diabetes are primarily managed and supported by nurses in primary health care (PHC). Therefore, PHC nurses require knowledge of diabetes and confidence (self-efficacy) to perform diabetes self-management support (SMS). AIM: This study evaluated the diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy and performance of diabetes SMS by PHC nurses. SETTING: Primary health care facilities in King Sabata Dalindyebo subdistrict, O.R. Tambo district, Eastern Cape. METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional and simple correlational design was used. Registered nurses (n = 100) completed a validated self-reporting questionnaire to measure diabetes knowledge, self-efficacy and performance of SMS. RESULTS: Participants' diabetes knowledge mean scores were high (mean of 11.9, standard deviation [s.d.] 1.8, out of 14). Self-efficacy scores (mean 18.91, s.d. 3.2 out of 24) were higher than performance of SMS scores (mean 17.81, s.d. 3.3 out of 24). Knowledge was not associated with self-efficacy or performance, but self-efficacy was positively correlated with performance of SMS (r = 0.78, p 0.01). Nurses with a postgraduate qualification in primary care nursing had significantly higher diabetes knowledge scores (mean = 92.9 vs. 83.8; p = 0.03), and years of experience as a nurse were positively correlated with the performance of SMS (r = 0.21, p = 0.05). CONCLUSION: Diabetes knowledge of PHC nurses in this study does not translate into self-efficacy and the performance of SMS in practice, indicating the need for specific SMS training, support by experienced mentors, appropriate guidelines and comprehensive integrated chronic care systems.Contribution: This is the first study to report on the SMS self-efficacy and performance of PHC nurses in South Africa.

Reorganisation of primary care services during COVID-19 in the Western Cape, South Africa: Perspectives of primary care nurses.

BACKGROUND: Primary care nurses play a pivotal role in the response to disasters and pandemics. The coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic required preventative, diagnostic, and curative measures for persons presenting with symptoms of COVID-19 by healthcare providers, whilst continuing other essential services. We aimed to investigate the reorganisation of primary care services during COVID-19 from the perspectives of primary care nurses in the Western Cape province of South Africa. METHODS: We administered an online survey with closed and open-ended questions to professional nurses enrolled for a Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Care Nursing at Stellenbosch University (2020) and alumni (2017-2019) working in the Western Cape. Eighty-three participants completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: The majority of the participants (74.4%) reported that they were reorganising services using a multitude of initiatives in response to the diverse infrastructure, logistics and services of the various healthcare facilities. Despite this, 48.2% of the participants expressed concerns, which mainly related to possible non-adherence of patients with chronic conditions, the lack of promotive and preventative services, challenges with facility infrastructure, and staff time devoted to triage and screening. More than half of the participants (57.8%) indicated that other services were affected by COVID-19, whilst 44.6% indicated that these services were worse than before. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the very necessary reorganisation of services that took place at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa enabled effective management of patients infected with COVID-19. However, the reorganisation of services may have longer-term consequences for primary care services in terms of lack of care for patients with other conditions, as well as preventive and promotive care.

Primary care nurses' preparedness for COVID-19 in the Western Cape province, South Africa.

INTRODUCTION: The novel coronavirus 2019 or COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a global public health crisis. Primary care (PC) nurses render first line care, or refer for more specialised services. AIM: To investigate the preparedness of PC nurses for COVID-19 in the Western Cape. SETTING: The Western Cape province of South Africa. METHODS: We administered an online survey, with closed and open-ended questions, to 83 Stellenbosch University postgraduate PC nursing students and alumni working in the Western Cape, between 03 July and 01 September 2020. RESULTS: The results indicated that 43.3% of participants were confident about the infection, prevention, and control (IPC) training they received and 56.7% felt prepared to provide direct care to suspected cases of COVID-19. Primary care nurses were more comfortable to triage (78.3%) than to manage persons with COVID-19 (42.2%), indicating that they may not be functioning to the full capacity of their education and training. Adequate infrastructure was reported by less than a third of the participants (30.1%) and 59.1% reported that personal protective equipment (PPE) was always available. Primary care nurses needed support in coping with stress (57.8%) although few (14.5%) reported access to mental health services. CONCLUSION: Primary care nurses were not prepared optimally for the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenges included adequate training, infrastructure, the availability of personal protective equipment, COVID-19 testing of health care workers and management support. Primary care nurses need comprehensive support to manage stress and anxiety.