Abstract
Paediatric cardiac surgery is performed on children diagnosed with congenital, acquired heart defects. Post cardiac surgery, these children are admitted to the cardio-thoracic intensive care unit where they are nursed by trained registered nurses and experienced registered nurses. Most of the registered nurses are bridging courses nurses who completed training and education under Regulation (R683). The South African Nursing Council’s (SANC) R683 regulation leads to qualification as registered nurse and is known as bridging course in the South African nursing context. Based on the shortage of registered intensive care nurses in South Africa, the registered bridging course nurses are allowed to work in ICU even though they lack the requisite knowledge and skill. The researcher has observed that these registered nurses manage certain situations inappropriately, and they appear to be dissatisfied and unhappy, and that the atmosphere in the CTICU is often tense. The purpose of the study was to understand the registered nurses’ lived experiences in nursing children post cardiac surgery, and to describe recommendations to support them. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was used. Purposive sampling was utilised. The target population comprised registered nurses who have undergone training in terms of the South African Nursing Council/s Regulation R683. Data collection was conducted by means of in-depth individual phenomenological interviews until data saturation...
M.Cur. (Medical and Surgical Nursing Sciences)