BackgroundRecording of information on multiple documents increases professional nurses’ responsibilities and workload during working hours. There are multiple registers and books at Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities in which a patient’s information is to be recorded for different services during a visit to a health professional. Antenatal patients coming for the first visit must be recorded in the following documents: tick register; Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) register; consent form for HIV and AIDS testing; HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) register (if tested positive for HIV and AIDS then this must be recorded in the Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) wellness register); ART file with an accompanying single file, completion of which is time-consuming; tuberculosis (TB) suspects register; blood specimen register; maternity case record book and Basic Antenatal Care (BANC) checklist. Nurses forget to record information in some documents which leads to the omission of important data. Omitting information might lead to mismanagement of patients. Some of the documents have incomplete and inaccurate information. As PHC facilities in Vhembe District render twenty four hour services through a call system, the same nurses are expected to resume duty at 07:00 the following morning. They are expected to work effectively and when tired a nurse may record illegible information which may cause problems when the document is retrieved by the next person for continuity of care.ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to investigate and describe the effects of increased nurses’ workload on quality documentation of patient information at PHC facilities in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province.MethodsThe study was conducted in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, where the effects of increased nurses’ workload on quality documentation of information is currently experienced. The research design was explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. The population consisted of all nurses who work at PHC facilities in Vhembe District. Purposive sampling was used to select nurses and three professional nurses were sampled from each PHC facility. An in-depth face-to-face interview was used to collect data using an interview guide.ResultsPHC facilities encountered several effects due to increased nurses’ workload where incomplete patient information is documented. Unavailability of patient information was observed, whilst some documented information was found to be illegible, inaccurate and incomplete.ConclusionDocumentation of information at PHC facilities is an evidence of effective communication amongst professional nurses. There should always be active follow-up and mentoring of the nurses’ documentation to ensure that information is accurately and fully documented in their respective facilities. Nurses find it difficult to cope with the increased workload associated with documenting patient information on the multiple records that are utilized at PHC facilities, leading to incomplete information. The number of nurse...

Background The estimation of unmet contraceptive needs triggered the National Department of Health in South Africa to introduced the Implant contraceptive method in 2014 to increase the range of contraceptive options for sexually active women. Implant contraceptive uptake remains low in the Vhembe District despite its effectiveness in preventing unintended pregnancy. Very little is known about the factors that affect the usage of this cost-effective device. Aim To explore sexually active women's knowledge, practices and attitudes related to the usage of the Implant contraceptive method in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. Methods The study was qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual, conducted using a non-probability purposive technique to sample 62 sexually active women aged from 18–45 years. The sample size was determined by data saturation. Five (5) focus group discussions were conducted using semi-structured interviews, which lasted for 45–60 minutes. Tesch's eight steps of open coding were used to analyse data. Results Results revealed that sexually active women experience some challenges related to Implant Contraceptive Method. The majority of women had little knowledge about the device, making it difficult for them to use the method. The majority of sexually active women indicated that they are interested in the method and would like to enjoy the benefits. Conclusion Sexually active women's intentions to utilise the Implant contraceptive method was very low as the majority of them had a negative attitude towards the method, due to insufficient knowledge. Professional nurses should inform women and public members about newly introduced Implant contraceptive method at Primary Health Care facilities to enhance usage.