[Evaluation of the quality of nursing care in a number of homes for the aged in Orange Free State]. / Evaluering van die kwaliteit van verpleegsorg in enkele tehuise vir bejaardes in die Oranje-Vrystaat.

A study was undertaken to evaluate the quality of nursing care in a number of homes for the aged in the Orange Free State. Ten homes were visited and 45 frail aged patients observed. Data was collected by means of a standardised instrument. Essential physical needs such as hygiene and nutrition were found to receive the necessary attention. However, aspects such as stimulation, socialisation, reality orientation, habit training programmes and exercise did not receive enough attention. In the light of these findings it was concluded that a custodial care approach was followed in these homes.

[Evaluation of selected management skills of senior students in a four-year program]. / Die evaluering van geselekteerde bestuursvaardighede van finale jaar studente in die vier jaar program.

Due to the composition of the curriculum it is not possible to allocate final year students in the four year course to hospital wards where they can practise management tasks. In order to overcome this difficulty to a limited degree, a plan was devised to give these students the opportunity of practising selected management tasks in their free time and an instrument was developed to evaluate their knowledge of and insight into these tasks. The instrument was used to evaluate the selected management skills of 60 fourth year students. The method and results of the project are described in this article.

[Attitude, knowledge and job satisfaction of nursing personnel in homes for the active aged]. / Houding, kennis en geluk van verpleegpersoneel wat in tehuise van bejaardes werksaam is.

According to the literature, the quality of nursing care in homes for the aged is largely determined by the attitude and knowledge of the nursing staff towards and about old people. A study was conducted in ten units for the frail aged to determine these two factors, as well as the job satisfaction of the staff. Although almost 100% of the nursing staff expressed satisfaction with their jobs, many of them revealed prejudices towards and a lack of knowledge about the nursing care needs of the aged.

[Evaluation of the quality of nursing care in a number of homes for the aged in the Orange Free State]. / Evaluering van die kwaliteit van verpleegsorg in enkele tehuise vir bejaardes in die Oranje-Vrystaat.

A study was undertaken to evaluate the quality of nursing care in a number of homes for the aged in the Orange Free State. Ten homes were visited and 45 frail aged patients observed. Data was collected by means of a standardised instrument. Essential physical needs such as hygiene and nutrition were found to receive the necessary attention. However, aspects such as stimulation, socialisation, reality orientation, habit training programmes and exercise did not receive enough attention. In the light of these findings it was concluded that a custodial care approach was followed in these homes.

Commitment to patient care: an exploratory study among registered nurses in Bophutatswana.

In this second article on the commitment to patient care the methodology and results of the study are briefly described and discussed. The research method was a non-experimental qualitative survey, using several data-gathering methods such as semi-structured interviews with registered nurses and patients, the examination of nurses' and patients' records and non-participant observations. Although the responses of nurses and patients indicated that both groups considered commitment to be essential to patient care, the examination of patient records, nurses' evaluation reports and observations showed lack of commitment in practice. Various reasons for this are explored and recommendations made.

A concept analysis of nurses' commitment to patient care.

Commitment to the service of mankind has always been a key concept of professional nursing. However, very little effort seems to have been made to analyse the nature of commitment as a factor in nursing. This article explores the meaning of the concept 'commitment' as revealed by a review of the literature and the responses of a group of registered nurses in unstructured interviews. It goes on to analyse the concept by means of a number of techniques such as an analysis of critical attributes, the construction of model cases and related cases, the identification of antecedents and consequences and of empirical referents. The information gleaned was used to structure a study of the commitment to patient care of a group of professional nurses which will be published in a subsequent article.

[Standards of patient education for nursing practice in general hospitals]. / Pasiëntonderrigstandaarde vir verpleegpraktyk in algemene hospitale.

A lack of patient education standards was identified and the researchers attempted in this study to develop standards for patient education. An instrument for the evaluation of patient knowledge was also developed.