Factors influencing the confidence and knowledge of nurses prescribing antiretroviral treatment in a rural and urban district in the Western Cape province

Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Factors influencing the confidence and knowledge of nurses prescribing antiretroviral treatment in a rural and urban district in the Western Cape province
 
Creator Solomons, Deborah J. van der Merwe, Anita S. Esterhuizen, Tonya M. Crowley, Talitha
 
Subject — HIV; NIMART; Primary Healthcare; Clinics; Nurses
Description Background: Since the introduction of nurse-initiated and managed antiretroviral treatment (NIMART) in South Africa in 2010, initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in primary care has become the responsibility of nurses. The continued success of this approach is dependent on factors such as adequate training and effective support systems.Objectives: This study aimed to investigate factors influencing the knowledge and confidence of professional nurses in managing patients living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in primary healthcare settings in a rural and urban district in the Western Cape.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst 77 NIMART-trained nurses from 29 healthcare facilities to measure demographic details, influencing factors, HIV management confidence and HIV management knowledge.Results: The majority of participants had adequate HIV management knowledge and reported being very confident or expert in the HIV management skills or competencies. Participants trained recently on local guidelines (Practical Approach to Care Kit) (3 years ago or less) had significantly higher knowledge scores. Regular feedback about clinic and personal performance was associated with higher HIV management knowledge. Participants who received NIMART mentoring over a period of 2 weeks had a higher mean confidence score compared to other periods of mentoring. A higher caseload of patients living with HIV was also associated with higher knowledge and confidence.Conclusion: Training, mentorship and clinical practice experience are associated with knowledge and confidence. Recommendations include the strengthening of current training and mentoring and ensuring that NIMART-trained nurses are provided with regular updates and sufficient opportunities for clinical practice.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2019-07-02
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajhivmed.v20i1.923
 
Source Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine; Vol 20, No 1 (2019); 7 pages 2078-6751 1608-9693
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/923/1512 https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/923/1511 https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/923/1513 https://sajhivmed.org.za/index.php/hivmed/article/view/923/1510
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2019 Talitha Crowley, Deborah J. Solomons, Anita S. van der Merwe, Tonya Esterhuizen https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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