Nurses' views about tuberculosis patients' discharge plan at Moses Kotane in the North-West Province.

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the opinions of nurses working with tuberculosis (TB) patients regarding hospital discharge plans at Moses Kotane in North-West, South Africa.

METHOD: A qualitative, exploratory and descriptive study was conducted with these nurses. The population involved registered nurses working with TB patients for more than two years. The population was purposely selected. Focus group interviews were conducted to collect data from this population. The research process was guided by the research question: What are the opinions of nurses working with TB patients regarding hospital discharge plans at Moses Kotane in the North-West Province? The group moderator guided the participants throughout the interviews in which the central research question was posed. Tesch's qualitative method of data analysis was used to analyse the data obtained.

FINDINGS: Subcategories and categories, and the following themes emerged during the data analysis: the need for education and involvement, the co-existence of TB and HIV/ Aids infections and the knowledge of continuous laboratory investigations. The participants discussed the suggestions and solutions for effective hospital discharge plans. The research findings could assist in the improvement of existing hospital discharge plans at Moses Kotane District.

CONCLUSIONS: The results revealed both positive and negative opinions regarding discharge plans. The data were classified into themes, categories and subcategories. The participants' suggestions regarding discharge plans were addressed and discussed. Finally, recommendations were disseminated to concerned authorities.