Browsing by Author "Msukwa, Pamela Monica"

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    The effectiveness of the nursing auxiliaries on the delivery of patient care at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre.
    (Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, 2006-11-30) Msukwa, Pamela Monica
    Health care provision has moved towards an approach to patient care that challenges the traditional role boundaries of health care workers. In nursing this has resulted in the delegation of 'nursing care' to the Nursing Auxiliaries. This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the Nursing Auxiliaries on the delivery of patient care. The research method was a qualitative, inductive approach. Data were gathered using in-depth interviews. These were conducted with eleven nurses who were Sister in-charges of different wards. Data were grouped, analysed, interpreted and summarized manually. Content analysis was done to classify the words into a few categories according to their importance. The findings of the study showed that from the qualified nurses' perspective, the nursing auxiliaries are not effective in the delivery of patient care. Some factors that would contribute to this have been discussed in themes that arose from the findings and these include supervision, poor working relationship, rote parameters and their influence on the delivery of patient care. Based on the findings there is need for ongoing monitoring and supervision of nursing auxiliaries work to maximize their contribution to patient care and to ensure quality standards, because professional roles in many health care systems are changing to meet increasing demands for care. There is also need for in service education and training for the qualified nurses on accountability and supervision of the nursing auxiliaries. This will make them better prepared for their role as supervisors. This in turn will result in effective delivery of patient care.