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Challenges experienced by health care professionals working in resource-poor intensive care settings in the Limpopo province of South Africa

BACKGROUND: Providing optimal care to critically ill patients poses challenges in resource-poor settings because of the lack of equipment, inadequately trained personnel and limited infrastructure. OBJECTIVES: This study explored challenges experienced by health care professionals working in resourc...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Malelelo-Ndou, Hulisani, Ramathuba, Dorah U., Netshisaulu, Khathutshelo G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: AOSIS 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6489151/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31038326
http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v42i1.1921
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Providing optimal care to critically ill patients poses challenges in resource-poor settings because of the lack of equipment, inadequately trained personnel and limited infrastructure. OBJECTIVES: This study explored challenges experienced by health care professionals working in resource-poor intensive care units. METHOD: A qualitative, explorative, descriptive design was used. The population comprised nurses and doctors working in an intensive care unit of one hospital in the Limpopo province of South Africa. A purposive sample was selected and 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analysed using Tesch’s method. Ethical considerations were adhered to. RESULTS: Participants experienced challenges related to provision of suboptimal patient care, the challenge of non-adherence to protocols and/or instructions and the challenge of practising beyond the scope of practice. CONCLUSION: Lack of resources resulted in providing suboptimal intensive patient care. Patients were prone to infections and their safety might be compromised. KEYWORDS: health care professionals; intensive care units; critically ill patients; resource-poor intensive care units.