Occupational health and safety issues of professional nurses in South Africa.

Abstract

Background: Occupational health and safety is important in organizations as it allows for the evaluation of risks, hazard control, protection of staff, and prevention of occupational injuries and diseases. Occupational health and safety is a well-legislated area, however, the enforcement of legislation has been considered lacking across various sectors in the SADC region. The public healthcare sector has been reported as lacking in terms of enforcing OHS practices. Nurses in South Africa have been found to face a quadruple burden of diseases that have had an impact on their health. Previous research on the healthcare system and occupational health and safety has focused largely on the tertiary healthcare facilities in South Africa. However, primary healthcare is the first point of treatment for South African citizens. Rural areas are often neglected and under-resourced. It was then deemed necessary to study the occupational health and safety issues rural nurses face. Aim: This research study aimed to explore the occupational health and safety challenges of rural nurses in primary healthcare. Methods: A qualitative research method was employed to complete this study. In-depth semi-structured interview schedule was used for data collection which allowed for flexibility of responses. The interview schedule comprised of open-ended questions which allowed participants to speak in depth and enabled probing to occur on each subject raised. This further helped in the exploration of the developing themes. Purposive sampling was used to invite 9 nurses to participate in the study and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings: The findings presented the participants’ insider perspectives of their experiences regarding the OHS issues they face in rural primary healthcare. These findings were presented in four themes: understanding of OHS; human resources; geographical factors; and safety, as well as sub-themes. These themes and their supporting excerpts provided evidence of the participants’ experiences and perceptions regarding OHS. Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated the OHS issues faced by rural nurses, as well as their understanding of OHS practices. The findings also illustrated that human resources issues are a predominant area of concern, as the participants cited that the clinics were understaffed and that they experience poor staff retention, as well inadequate recruitment practices. These findings also explicitly expose the complexity compression that nurses are continually under, partly due to their geographical location. Furthermore, the findings also highlight the premise of the Rural Nursing Theory in that rural nursing practice needs tailor-made solutions, as the context is different from the urban nursing context.