Exploring the psychosocial challenges faced by pregnant teenagers in Ditsobotla subdistrict.

Background: Pregnant teenagers usually experience psychosocial challenges such as a great amount of stress when they have to deal with an unwanted pregnancy, unpreparedness for parenthood and a lack of income as well as labour and birth complications. These are further complicated by the stigma from their families, friends and community. Unaddressed psychosocial challenges during teenage pregnancy can adversely affect the health outcomes of both mother and the child. Aim: This study explores and describes the psychosocial challenges faced by pregnant teenagers in the Ditsobotla subdistrict. Setting: The study was conducted in three health centres in the Ditsobotla subdistrict. Methods: A qualitative-exploratory-descriptive and contextual research design was used. Non-probability purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to select the participants. Semistructured individual interviews through WhatsApp video calls were used to collect data, which were analysed using conventional content analysis. Results: Three themes emerged from the findings of the study, namely psychological challenges, social challenges and suggestions to address psychosocial challenges faced by pregnant teenagers. Conclusion: The findings established that pregnant teenagers in the Ditsobotla subdistrict are faced with psychosocial challenges which negatively impact their psychological health and social life. Suggestions made in this study have the potential to improve the psychosocial well-being of pregnant teenagers in the Ditsobotla subdistrict if implemented. Contributions: The findings of this study provide important information that may be used to improve the psychosocial well-being of pregnant teenagers in the Ditsobotla subdistrict.

Technology usage for teaching and learning in nursing education: An integrative review.

BACKGROUND:  The increasing availability of technology devices or portable digital assistant devices continues to change the teaching-learning landscape, including technology-supported learning. Portable digital assistants and technology usage have become an integral part of teaching and learning nowadays. Cloud computing, which includes YouTube, Google Apps, Dropbox and Twitter, has become the reality of today's teaching and learning and has noticeably improved higher education, including nursing education. OBJECTIVES:  The aim of this integrative literature review was to explore and describe technology usage for teaching and learning in nursing education. METHOD:  A five-step integrative review framework by Whittemore and Knafl was used to attain the objective of this study. The authors searched for both empirical and non-empirical articles from EBSCOhost (health information source and health science), ScienceDirect and African Journals Online Library databases to establish what is already known about the keywords. Key terms included in literature search were coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), digital learning, online learning, nursing, teaching and learning, and technology use. RESULTS:  Nineteen articles were selected for analysis. The themes that emerged from this review were (1) technology use in nursing education, (2) the manner in which technology is used in nursing education, (3) antecedents for technology use in nursing education, (4) advantages of technology use in nursing education, (5) disadvantages of technology use in nursing education and (6) technology use in nursing education amidst COVID-19. CONCLUSION:  Technology in nursing education is used in both clinical and classroom teaching to complement learning. However, there is still a gap in its acceptance despite its upward trend.Contribution: The findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge on the phenomenon of technology use for teaching and learning in nursing education.

Information technology for teaching and learning in a multi-campus public nursing college.

Background: Technologies, such as the use of information technology for teaching and learning, e-learning and virtual learning, are commonly used terms in today's education system. These ever growing and developing modes of teaching and learning have changed the landscape of higher education, in general. As a result, nursing education has equally responded positively to the use of information technology for teaching and learning. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe and compare the readiness to use information technology for teaching and learning for both nursing students and nurse educators in the two campuses of a North West public nursing college. Setting: The study was conducted in a multi-campus North West public nursing college in South Africa. Methods: A quantitative approach of a comparative descriptive design was followed in this study. Descriptive statistics was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 27. Results: A total of 285 (254 nursing students and 31 nurse educators) respondents completed the online questionnaires. Both nurse educators and nursing students were in agreement with the information technology use readiness construct (83.9% and 77.9%, respectively). For all the variables with significant (< 0.05) p-values from the Mann-Whitney U test, the mean ranks were higher for the Ngaka Modiri Molema District (NMMD) campus. Conclusion: When comparing the two campuses, conclusion can be drawn that the campus at NMDD is more ready to use information technology for teaching and learning than the campus at Dr Kenneth Kauda District. Contribution: The results of this study contribute to the body of knowledge on technology use for teaching and learning in nursing education.

Coping strategies used by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A narrative literature review.

BACKGROUND: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, it is understandable that nurses are working under stressful conditions. A successful use of effective coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic will help nurses to manage stressful conditions. AIM: The objective of this narrative literature review was to explore and describe the coping strategies used by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. SETTING: This study was conducted from all available literature related to the coping strategies used by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic globally. METHODS: A narrative literature review was conducted to answer researchers' concern of coping strategies used by nurses during COVID-19. The purposive sampling technique was used to select three online databases that were used to search for the relevant literature, namely Google Scholar, Science Direct and African Journals (formerly SAePublications). Search terms used to conduct this study include coping, coping strategies, nurses, nursing and COVID-19 pandemic. This study included English studies focusing on coping strategies used by nurses during COVID-19 published between 2019 and 2021. The study excluded newspaper articles, conference reports and other databases not mentioned in this study. RESULTS: The findings identified the following strategies: use of COVID-19 protective measures, avoidance strategy, social support, faith-based practices, psychological support and management support are used by nurses as coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: The use of the identified coping strategies by nurses may reduce stress and burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations were made for future research, nursing education and practice. CONTRIBUTION: This is the first narrative literature review focusing on the coping strategies used by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this narrative literature review provide insight that may be used by nurses of all categories to cope during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coping mechanisms used by the families of mental health care users in Mahikeng sub-district, North West province.

BACKGROUND: Families of the mental health care users (MHCUs) face different challenges in dealing with, supporting and caring for MHCUs on a daily basis. The divergent coping mechanisms that the family members use aim to lower the negative, psychological and emotional impact of the stress. These include: escape, avoidance and denial. AIM: To explore, describe and contextualise coping mechanisms used by the families of MHCUs and to suggest recommendations for improving their coping mechanisms in Mahikeng sub-district, North West province (NWP), South Africa. SETTING: The study was conducted in three community health centres in Mahikeng sub-district, NWP, South Africa. METHODS: A qualitative-exploratory-descriptive and contextual research design was used. Non-probability convenience and purposive sampling techniques were used to select participants. WhatsApp video calls were used to collect data which were analysed following Creswell's six steps of qualitative data analysis. RESULTS: The study established three themes namely; challenges experienced by the family members, coping mechanism used by the family members, and suggestions for improvement in the coping mechanisms for the family members. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study show that the family members of MHCUs are faced with different challenges. Some of the coping mechanisms used by the family members are insufficient and require improvement to enable them to cope effectively. When the coping mechanisms of the family members of MHCUs are improved, their well-being and that of the MHCUs might improve significantly. CONTRIBUTION: The findings of this study provides information that may be used to improve the coping mechanisms of the families of MHCUs in the NWP, South Africa.