Background: Providing optimal care to critically ill patients poses challenges in resource-poor settings because of the lack of equipment, inadequately trained personnel and limited infrastructure. Method: A qualitative, explorative, descriptive design was used. The population comprised nurses and doctors working in an intensive care unit of one hospital in the Limpopo province of South Africa. A purposive sample was selected and 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analysed using Tesch’s method. Ethical considerations were adhered to. Results: Participants experienced challenges related to provision of suboptimal patient care, the challenge of non-adherence to protocols and/or instructions and the challenge of practising beyond the scope of practice. Conclusion: Lack of resources resulted in providing suboptimal intensive patient care. Patients were prone to infections and their safety might be compromised.
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CITATION STYLE
Malelelo-Ndou, H., Ramathuba, D. U., & Netshisaulu, K. G. (2019). Challenges experienced by health care professionals working in resource-poor intensive care settings in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Curationis, 42(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/curationis.v42i1.1921