Nombulelo Veronica Sepeng

By Leepile Sehularo, Lufuno Makhado and Nombulelo Sepeng

Caring for Mental Health Care Users (MHCUs) diagnosed with Substance User Disorders (SUDs) is challenging and demanding as nurses reported that these users are untrustworthy. This leaves the nurses emotionally and physically drained. Some of these MHCUs are violent, aggressive, suicidal or homicidal. However, there is no literature found on the nurses’ coping strategies when caring for MHCUs diagnosed with SUDS. The purpose of this chapter was to explore and describe the current literature on the nurses’ coping strategies when caring for MHCUs diagnosed with SUDs. A narrative literature review was used in this chapter. JSTOR, Google Scholar, Sabinet Online, African Journals and Science Direct databases were used to search relevant and current literature using the following keywords: coping, coping strategies, nurses, care, caring, mental health care users, psychiatric patients, substance abuse, substance-related disorders and substance use disorders. Six themes emerged in this chapter namely nurses’ resilience, peer support, management support, strengthening the multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach, open-door policy as well as education and training. The findings and recommendations of this chapter may assist nurses of all categories to provide quality care, treatment and rehabilitation services when caring for MHCUs who are diagnosed with SUDs.

Part of the book: Health and Educational Success

By Nombulelo Veronica Sepeng, Lufuno Makhado and Leepile Alfred Sehularo

Rape is very high in South Africa. It predisposes rape survivors to many health care problems, including the risk of contracting human immunodeficiency virus, sexually transmitted infections, falling pregnant, and long mental health effects. PTSD and depression are regarded as the most common mental health effects diagnosed among rape survivors, and they require long term mental health care management. In the current era, follow-up care management for rape survivors is mostly done at Thuthuzela Care Centres. However, rape survivors do not often go for follow-up care, because these centres are mostly far from them. Thus, this problem can be addressed by integrating the management of these long-term disorders within the primary health care settings in South Africa, because most people have access to their nearby clinics. This chapter aims to describe ways of integrating follow-up care management for continuous assessment and management of rape survivors diagnosed with PTSD and depression through task-shifting these duties to nurses working within the primary health care settings in South Africa. The chapter focuses on the mental health care status of rape survivors diagnosed with PTSD and depression. Training of nurses is essential to manage rape survivors diagnosed with PTSD and depression in primary health care.

Part of the book: Health and Educational Success

By Fhumulani M. Mulaudzi, Nombulelo V. Sepeng, Ndivhaleni R. Lavhelani and Tintswalo V. Nesengani

South Africa experiences challenges with informal settlements that have inadequate water supplies and sanitation measures, thus affecting people’s health status. As countries globally aim to attain Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 6, it is necessary to recognise how human well-being is significantly dependent on safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. Poor sanitation and an inadequate water supply to areas where people live lead to poor hygiene that may cause illnesses like diarrhoea. In this chapter, we reflect on the challenges that we faced during the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects on the practice of good hygiene. We used information from grey literature such as newspapers, reports from districts and radio interviews to extract stories from community members who experienced constraints in maintaining hygienic conditions during Covid-19. Results revealed that constraints, such as being confined in a shack, a lack of running water and poor sanitation affected community members’ compliance to Covid-19 preventive measures.

Part of the book: Hygiene and Health in Developing Countries