Nursing categories' perceptions of the practice environment and quality of care in North West Province: a cross-sectional survey design.

Background: There is a substantial amount of literature on the perception of the practice environment and quality of care as perceived by registered nurses and community services nurses in South Africa and worldwide, but there is little to no research that could be found regarding other categories of nurses, and how these perceptions differ between the different categories. Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe the different nursing categories' perceptions of the practice environment and quality of care and the association between the variables.

Methods: This study applied a cross-sectional survey design.

Nurse perceptions of practice environment, quality of care and patient safety across four hospital levels within the public health sector of South Africa.

Improving the practice environment, quality of care and patient safety are global health priorities. In South Africa, quality of care and patient safety are among the top goals of the National Department of Health; nevertheless, empirical data regarding the condition of the nursing practice environment, quality of care and patient safety in public hospitals is lacking.AimThis study examined nurses' perceptions of the practice environment, quality of care and patient safety across four hospital levels (central, tertiary, provincial and district) within the public health sector of South Africa.

The association between the practice environment and selected nurse educator outcomes in public nursing education institutions: A cross-sectional study.

Aim: The purpose of this study is to describe the association between the practice environment and nurse educator outcomes (burnout, engagement, incivility, job satisfaction and intention to leave) in public nursing education institutions in the Gauteng province of South Africa.

Background: The practice environment holds the most promise for recruiting and retaining a qualified and engaged nurse workforce; however, the association between the practice environment and nurse educator outcomes has been relatively unexplored.

Design: Cross-sectional design.

Relationship of nurses' intrapersonal characteristics with work performance and caring behaviors: A cross-sectional study.

This study aimed to describe intrapersonal characteristics (professional values, personality, empathy, and job involvement), work performance as perceived by nurses, and caring behaviors as perceived by patients, and to examine the relationships among these variables. A cross-sectional design was employed. A sample was recruited of 218 nurses and 116 patients in four private hospitals and four public hospitals.

Medication administration errors and related deviations from safe practice: an observational study.

Aims And Objectives: To determine the incidence of medication administration errors, medication administration-related deviations from safe practice as well as factors associated with these errors in medical and surgical units of public hospitals in the Gauteng Province of South Africa.

Background: Several studies have been published on the incidence of medication administration errors, but only a few have studied the incidence of medication administration-related deviations from safe practice. Context-specific research on the incidence of medication administration errors and associated factors (patient acuity, bed occupancy, staffing levels, medication administrators' qualifications, dose calculation skills, level of hospital, unit type, medication administration route and interruptions) within the continent of Africa is lacking.

Rasch analysis of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire among adults from South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Background: Meaning in life is a key indicator of subjective well-being and quality of life. Further developments in understanding and enhancing the construct will depend inter alia on the sound measurement thereof. This study is at the forefront of applying modern psychometric techniques to the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, a scale widely used to assess meaning in life.

Non-nursing tasks, nursing tasks left undone and job satisfaction among professional nurses in South African hospitals.

Aim: To investigate the relationship between non-nursing tasks (NNTs), nursing tasks left undone (NTLU) and job satisfaction among professional nurses (PNs) in South Africa (SA).

Background: This study adds to the international debate about the relationship between non-nursing tasks, nursing tasks left undone and job satisfaction by studying the variables at individual nurse and hospital unit level.

Method: A cross-sectional survey design of 1166 PNs in 60 medical and surgical units in 55 private hospitals and seven public hospitals.

Gene-environment and gene-gene interactions of specific MTHFR, MTR and CBS gene variants in relation to homocysteine in black South Africans.

The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), cystathione-β-synthase (CBS) and methionine synthase (MTR) genes interact with each other and the environment. These interactions could influence homocysteine (Hcy) and diseases contingent thereon. We determined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within these genes, their relationships and interactions with total Hcy concentrations within black South Africans to address the increased prevalence of diseases associated with Hcy.

Nutritional genetics: the case of alcohol and the MTHFR C677T polymorphism in relation to homocysteine in a black South African population.

Background/aims: It is unknown whether the effect of alcohol consumption on homocysteine (Hcy) is modulated by the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T. We explored this hypothesized effect by analyzing cross-sectional data of 1,827 black South Africans.

Methods: Total Hcy concentrations were determined by fluorescence polarization immunoassay and the genotype through polymerase chain reaction-based RFLP analysis.

A proposed cutoff point of waist-to-height ratio for metabolic risk in African township adolescents.

Objective: A waist:height ratio (WHtR) higher than 0.5 has been proposed as a cutoff point for abdominal obesity in both sexes and at all ages. It is unknown if this cutoff point is appropriate for previously undernourished adolescents.

A tale of two systems--nurses practice environment, well being, perceived quality of care and patient safety in private and public hospitals in South Africa: a questionnaire survey.

Objective: To examine the practice environment, nurse reported quality of care and patient safety, and nurse workforce outcomes in medical and surgical units in private and public hospitals in South Africa (SA), and determine the association of modifiable features of the hospital such as the practice environment and patient to nurse workloads on these outcomes.

Design: Cross-sectional survey of nurses.

Setting And Participants: Nurses were surveyed in medical and surgical units of 55 private hospitals and 7 public national referral hospitals in SA.

Triglyceride concentration and waist circumference influence alcohol-related plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 activity increase in black South Africans.

We investigated the association between alcohol consumption and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 activity (PAI-1act) and fibrinogen concentration in a black South African population presenting with lower PAI-1act and higher fibrinogen than what is typically observed in white populations. We, furthermore, wanted to investigate the effect of urbanization, sex, central obesity, increased triglycerides, 4G/5G polymorphism (PAI-1 only) and BMI on the association of alcohol with PAI-1act and fibrinogen. Data from 2010 apparently healthy, randomly collected black South African volunteers from the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study were cross-sectionally analyzed.

Developing a Study Orientation Questionnaire in Mathematics for primary school students.

The Study Orientation Questionnaire in Mathematics (Primary) is being developed as a diagnostic measure for South African teachers and counsellors to help primary school students improve their orientation towards the study of mathematics. In this study, participants were primary school students in the North-West Province of South Africa. During the standardisation in 2007, 1,013 students (538 boys: M age = 12.