Experiences of professional nurses caring for HIV/AIDS patients on universal test, treat and return strategy in Vhembe District, South Africa

Abstract

There are challenges in the services rendered by professional nurses trained on Nurse-Initiated-And Managed Antiretroviral Treatment to HIV/AIDS patients. All newly diagnosed patients are compelled to commence with antiretroviral therapy as soon as they are diagnosed. The purpose of the study was to investigate the experiences of professional nurses caring for HIV/AIDS patients on the Universal Test, Treat and Retain strategy in Vhembe District of Limpopo province. A qualitative approach with the descriptive phenomenological design was employed to explore and describe the experiences of professional nurses. The study was conducted in the health centres in the Vhembe district of Limpopo. The target population comprised of professional nurses trained on the Nurse-Initiated-And Managed Antiretroviral Treatment programme caring for HIV/AIDS patients on Universal Test, Treat and Retain strategy. Non-probability purposive sampling technique was employed to select three Community Health Centres with a high number of professional nurses trained on Nurse-Initiated-And Managed Antiretroviral Treatment programme. Data were collected using in-depth face to face interviews. The researcher interviewed 11 professional nurses caring for HIV/AIDS patients. The sample size was determined by data saturation. Data were analysed guided by Tesch’s eight steps. Credibility, dependability, transferability and confirmability were employed to measure the trustworthiness of the study. Ethical considerations were adhered to throughout the study. The findings of the study revealed that professional nurses are affected negatively by the patient's responses to HIV positive results and the implementation of the Universal Test, Treat and Retain Strategy. They also experience Antiretroviral treatment challenges, shortage of manpower and material resources and they received ineffective support. The researcher made recommendations to address the challenges revealed by the study findings.